Abstract
The June 1980 decision of the US Supreme Court that a living organism could be patented under the provisions of the US Patent Act vividly symbolizes our entering a new era in the relationship between basic biological research and commercial ventures. As such it provides an excellent occasion to pause and reflect upon where we are going and whether we want to go there.
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Notes and References
Key Dismukes, “Life is Patently Not Human-Made,” Hastings Center Report 10 (October 1980), p. 12.
Irving Holtzman, “Patenting Certain Forms of Life: A Moral Justification,” Hastings Center Report 9 (June 1979), p. 11.
John Rawls, A Theory of Justice (Cambridge, MA.: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1971), p. 83.
Dismukes, op. cit., p. 12.
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Muyskens, J. (1983). Ethical Issues Raised by the Patenting of New Forms of Life. In: Humber, J.M., Almeder, R.F. (eds) Biomedical Ethics Reviews · 1983. Biomedical Ethics Reviews. Humana Press, Totowa, NJ. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59259-439-9_10
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59259-439-9_10
Publisher Name: Humana Press, Totowa, NJ
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