[Next-Generation Sequencing Book]
  • [Photo] J.W. Bizzaro • May 14, 2002
    ``Nearly 10 years ago, a friend called Stuart Newman with an intriguing challenge: Could he think up a new form of life that would be scientifically useful and possible to patent--yet so disturbing that the public would recoil?

    ``And so Newman, a New York medical school professor, proposed a `humouse,' a part-human, part-mouse creature that could be made with existing lab techniques and would help companies test for the toxic effects of new drugs. He even typed up a fake press release claiming a trademark for the `humouse' name.

    ``Newman's proposal was far more than a whimsical exercise. Today, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is in the final stages of deciding whether he can patent his idea. Win or lose, the result could be exactly what the humouse was designed to accomplish: prodding Congress and the courts to place new limits on manipulating and patenting human life.

    ``For the patent office, the humouse raises some awkward issues. For 22 years, the office has granted patents on a wide array of living organisms and elements of life. Human genes have been patented. So have human cells. Patents have gone to animals made with bits of human DNA so scientists can study cancer and other diseases.''

    Full story:
    http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-051202patent.story

    Reference by Slashdot.

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