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Genome editing: intellectual property and product development in plant biotechnology

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Abstract

Genome editing is a revolutionary technology in molecular biology. While scientists are fascinated with the unlimited possibilities provided by directed and controlled changes in DNA in eukaryotes and have eagerly adopted such tools for their own experiments, an understanding of the intellectual property (IP) implications involved in bringing genome editing-derived products to market is often lacking. Due to the ingenuity of genome editing, the time between new product conception and its actual existence can be relatively short; therefore knowledge about IP of the various genome editing methods is relevant. This point must be regarded in a national framework as patents are instituted nationally. Therefore, when designing scientific work that could lead to a product, it is worthwhile to consider the different methods used for genome editing not only for their scientific merits but also for their compatibility with a speedy and reliable launch into the desired market.

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Notes

  1. The name Cellectis is used in this publication because nearly all documents that are cited are older than May 2015 and therefore still use the “old” name Cellectis instead of the “new” name Calyxt.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Plant Biotechnology, Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology IME, Forckenbeckstrasse 6, 52074, Aachen, Germany

    Helga Schinkel & Stefan Schillberg

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  1. Helga Schinkel
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  2. Stefan Schillberg
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Correspondence to Stefan Schillberg.

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Conflict of interest

Authors HS and SS have received grants from Dow AgroSciences for research on zinc finger nucleases.

Additional information

Communicated by T. Cardi.

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Schinkel, H., Schillberg, S. Genome editing: intellectual property and product development in plant biotechnology. Plant Cell Rep 35, 1487–1491 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00299-016-1988-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00299-016-1988-9

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