Patentability Of Genetically Modified Organisms Gmos

Master's Thesis from the year 2002 in the subject Law - Miscellaneous, grade: merit - 67%, University of Exeter (International Business Law), language: English, abstract: The discovery of the double- helical structure of DNA in 19532 has led to an exponential growth of related new technologies and has generated enormous financial research costs3. To accumulate these sums the biotech industry is particularly motivated by the attraction of patent protection4. Patent regimes have been challenging boundaries between human invention and nature and have become an important and controversial tool for protecting biotechnological knowledge. The issues covered range from patenting of gene sequences5 from lower organisms such as bacteria up to higher life forms as living animals6. Patent practice has become increasingly broad7. One of the jurisdictions still strong enough to resist the Western trend to extend the coverage of new-life forms is surprisingly Canada being the neighbour to the most inventive U.S. biotechnological industry8. Subject of this work are GMOs destined for marketing on global level, i.e. foodstuff and agricultural products9 but pharmaceuticals and other products as well as far as natural ingredients are concerned. Myriads of novel GMOs could be developed and released into the global environment to help to solve severe shortages or problems in agriculture, energy or medicine by providing more and better food, alternative fuel or new and more effective pharmaceuticals10. The debate is fuelled by unfulfilled expectations concerning the ongoing WTO round, statements of NGO activists11 and new projects of multinational corporations and more intense in Europe than in North America.

Taking a global viewpoint, this volume addresses issues arising from recent developments in the enduring and topical debates over Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) and their relationship to Intellectual Property (IP). The work examines changing responses to the growing acceptance and prevalence of GMOs. Drawing together perspectives from several of the leading international scholars in this area, the contributions seek to break away from analysis of safety and regulation and examine the diversity of ways the law and GMOs have become entangled. This collection presents the start of a much broader engagement with GMOs and law. As GMO technology becomes increasingly more complex and embedded in our lives, this volume will be a useful resource in leading further discussion and debate about GMOs in academia, in government and among those working on future policy.

"The book...is, in fact, a short text on the many practical problems...associated with translating the explosion in basic biotechnological research into the next Green Revolution," explains Economic Botany. The book is "a concise and accurate narrative, that also manages to be interesting and personal...a splendid little book." Biotechnology states, "Because of the clarity with which it is written, this thin volume makes a major contribution to improving public understanding of genetic engineering's potential for enlarging the world's food supply...and can be profitably read by practically anyone interested in application of molecular biology to improvement of productivity in agriculture."

The scientific controversies involving genetic science and ?biosafety? Have not been well understood by many. All claims about GMOs (genetically modified organisms) or LMOs (living modified organisms) are under controversy. The Cartagena Protocol is the first international agreement to regulate the transboundary movement of GMOs. Under the Convention on Biological Diversity, 190 countries agreed on the importance and concern over the spread and cross-border transfer of GMOs and their risks to environment and human health. Consequently, in 2000, they adopted the Cartagena Protocol to address the possible risks of GMOs. The protocol is an important step in the protection of biodiversity and biosafety. The concern of developing countries are not shared by the developed countries like the US, Canada, and Mexico. These countries produce more than 90% of the LMO crops and they are not ratified by the protocol. The protocol explicitly stipulates that countries should take precautionary measures to prevent GMOs from causing harm to biodiversity and human health.Members have to implement the protocol provisions at the domestic level. There are heated debates in India whether to allow the cultivation of GMOs? The civil society organizations are opposing the entry of multinational companies in the field trial of GMOs. In this scenario, a systematic review of the international legal regime to formulate a comprehensive policy on the subject in India is the need of the hour.

Engineering the Farm offers a wide-ranging examination of the social and ethical issues surrounding the production and consumption of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), with leading thinkers and activists taking a broad theoretical approach to the subject. Topics covered include: the historical roots of the anti-biotechnology movement ethical issues involved in introducing genetically altered crops questions of patenting and labeling the "precautionary principle" and its role in the regulation of GMOs effects of genetic modification on the world's food supply ecological concerns and impacts on traditional varieties of domesticated crops potential health effects of GMOsContributors argue that the scope, scale, and size of the present venture in crop modification is so vast and intensive that a thoroughgoing review of agricultural biotechnology must consider its global, moral, cultural, and ecological impacts as well as its effects on individual consumers. Throughout, they argue that more research is needed on genetically modified food and that consumers are entitled to specific information about how food products have been developed.Despite its increasing role in worldwide food production, little has been written about the broader social and ethical implications of GMOs. Engineering the Farm offers a unique approach to the subject for academics, activists, and policymakers involved with questions of environmental policy, ethics, agriculture, environmental health, and related fields.

Tito Schiva, geneticist and past Director of the Experimental Institute for Floriculture Sanremo I for 30 years, attended the UPOV Workshop (International Convention for the New Varieties of Plants Protection) as Italian delegate. In the pre-DNA period, together with A. Mercuri, he developed a method for genotype identification based on the isoenzymatic fingerprinting for plant varieties with a view to protecting intellectual property. At the advent of genetic transformation techniques, again working with A. Mercuri, he created dwarf compact plants on Limonium sp. using the ROL genes, and fluorescent flowers on Lisianthus and Rinchospermum using . GFP genes (Green Fluorescent Protein). So far the controversy on GMO has concerned essentially the wealthy and the environment not highlighting the consequences of the Patent on living matter. To apply a Patent on a gene provokes unique biological/economical synergy and has a great impact on our lives. Gunter Reimann, in “Patent for Hitler” (1942), showed how the Patent was stifling the development of technology. In this reality the food step crops appear to be the most vulnerable. Slowing down innovation is the most negative aspect of the Patent system, but the greatest tragedy lies in the political mistake of not pointing out the guidelines or worse forbidding the development of these bio-technologies, and then leaving this know-how as a privilege of the few.

The regulation of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) continues to generate controversy. On the one hand, they are actively promoted by the biotechnology industry as vital to ensuring food security. Yet, on the other hand, consumer resistance persists, not least in the European Union, and such lack of confidence extends not just to GM food itself but also to the regulatory regime, where legal issues are inextricably linked with economics and politics. This edited collection provides a novel contribution to the ongoing debate, recognizing that the legislative environment is complicated by forces as varied as national public opinion and world trade commitments. The book is divided into four parts. The first of these addresses the influence in this context of both civil society and economic imperatives. The second part is directed more specifically to the measures that have been implemented in the European Union, considering multi-level governance, wider aspects of food law, co-existence with conventional and organic crops, and environmental liability. The third part is comparative in focus, with chapters covering the diverse regimes implemented in Africa, Australia, North America and South America. The book concludes with chapters on world trade and international considerations, including analysis of the Biotech case.