The debate over Gene Patenting is gaining momentum and is the subject of Dr. Michael Crichton’s latest novel “Next”. While the book, published by Harper-Collins, is fictional, Dr. Crichton has included a great deal of factual information to add fuel to the concerns over “ownership” of genes and diseases. According to Crichton, “Major hepatitis C and HIV genes are all owned. Researchers working on those diseases must worry about getting permission and paying high fees”. The U.S. Patent Office has given laboratories, private sector companies and universities the rights to 20% of the genes found in everyone’s DNA.  www.NEXTgencode.com provides a glimpse of what the future may hold.

Colonna went on to say “Anything that occurs naturally in biology is off limits when it comes to patenting. We are strongly opposed to the patenting of biological data, be it genes, proteins, diseases, cellular anomalies, etc. These data belong to society and in the public domain where scientists can easily gain unrestricted access to them in order to support the development of novel therapeutics. That is not to say that any unique processes or technologies used to sequence or otherwise characterize or identify unique biological entities, or any resulting therapies, should not be patented and afforded full protection by international IP laws.”

Ever since the race between the public and private sector to map the human genome, there have been concerns over the desire of private entities to claim ownership to genes that they identified. The Bayh-Dole Act has extended the concern by allowing universities that have traditionally placed all research in the public domain, to profit by patenting discoveries from Federally-funded research, including genes and genetic disorders. According to Colonna “this will have dire implications for academia, the scientific community and society at-large.”

There is a movement to establish a “Genetic Bill of Rights” that sets out to encourage a global dialogue on the fundamental values that have been put at risk by new applications of genetics. A basic set of common principles that is essential for creating a framework for understanding the ethical, legal, social and environmental implications of biotechnology. The foundational principle of the Rights is that “All people have the right to a world in which living organisms cannot be patented, including human beings, animals, plants, microorganisms and all their parts”.

According to Colonna, “Gencom supports this movement and intends to take a leading role in facilitating a global discussion on the subject.” The Company is planning an online summit where ideas, thoughts and opinions can be expressed on the subject and encourages government, industry and community participation. Additionally, the Company hopes to stimulate individual action through contribution to the summit and communication related to gene patenting to Congress, the U.S. Patent Office and other governmental bodies in every country.         

About Gencom, Inc.

Gencom is leading innovation in the field of discovery optimization and is advancing the current state of high performance computing for clients engaged in functional genomics and other computationally intensive drug discovery activities.

Gencom’s revolutionary hyper-mesh computing architecture, based upon Microsoft technologies and Intel’s Itanium 2 processor, will significantly reduce drug discovery-to-market times for its clients by;

• Enhancing Discovery Performance
• Optimizing Research Risk Management
• Increasing Execution Success, and
• Mitigating Research Risk Costs.

The Company is based in Irvine, CA with future locations being planned for Research Triangle Park, NC and Cold Spring Harbor, NY.

For additional information about Gencom, please visit www.GenomicComputation.com or contact Lindsay Davenport at (LDavenport@GenomicComputation.com)