My sister was busy getting ready to host our entire family for Easter. On her to-do list was a hair appointment for her daughter.
"So, Katie," said the stylist as the little girl got up in the chair, "who’s coming to your house this weekend with big ears and floppy feet?"
Katie replied, "I think it’s my Uncle Brian."
Life-form patent arguedIn 1980, arguments were heard by the U.S. Supreme Court concerning whether a patent could be issued for a genetically-engineered bacterium in the case of Diamond vs. Chakrabarty. On 16 Jun 1980, in a landmark decision, the judges held five to four that the Patent Office should recognize "any" new and useful "manufacture" or "composition of matter," and that the fact that micro-organisms are alive was without legal significance in the related patent law. Microbiologist, Ananda Chakrabarty had appealed the rejection of his 1972 patent application for a human-made, genetically engineered bacterium capable of breaking down crude oil, which no naturally occurring bacteria could do. The patent was eventually issued 31 Mar 1981.«[Image: the patented Burkholderia cepacia bacterium; inset: Chakrabarty] |
