Word: patent
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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WITHOUT a word of public debate, Dr. Philip Leder '56, a Harvard geneticist, was granted a patent earlier this month for his engineered mouse. This marked the first time an animal was classified as an invention. Designed to be susceptible to cancer, the mouse will allow researchers to better understand the causes of that disease in humans...
With more than 14,000 similar applications pending, the mouse patent shows that we must come to grips with important questions on the ethics and regulation of the newly realized area of biotechnology. The rapid growth of genetic engineering developments is forcing us to decide how far we as a society are willing to let the bounds of science...
...granting of patents on selectively bred plants or genetically-engineered microorganisms has been accepted for years. But the issue of the first patent for a "transgenic nonhuman mammal" should have been the focal point for an ethical debate on man's right to manipulate the course of nature to fit its needs...
What is disturbing is that at a critical point in scientific development, when the questions surrounding a new technology should have been discussed, the matter received no public debate. The patent for the mouse was strangely kept quiet until a decision was announced. Donald J. Quigg, the Commissioner of Patents, remarked in response to protests: "How can anybody say that this kind of development is unethical or wrong...
...granting of the patent ignored serious ethical questions. Is it legitimate to patent animals? If the government starts to patent mice, where does it stop? These questions must be addressed by public discussion...