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Ethical, Patent, and Regulatory Issues in Microbial Engineering

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Engineering of Microbial Biosynthetic Pathways

Abstract

Engineered microbial systems are finding application in various sectors and are predicted to revolutionize variety of fields such as health care, food and agriculture industries, paper, textile, and environmental remediation. With the rapid advancements in technology for production of genetically modified organisms, there is also ever-increasing debate on social, ethical, and legal implications of such technologies. For these cutting-edge technologies to be commercialized and become the basis of successful business ventures, there is a need to protect these inventions through regimes of intellectual property rights (IPR). In addition to legal protection, the innovation must meet the regulatory framework keeping in mind the societal concerns. Ethical concerns are intertwined with genetically modified microorganisms and questions like are scientists “interfering with nature” or “playing god” are being widely debated. This chapter elaborates on the evolution of patent system for biological material, patent landscape of microorganisms across the globe, various ethical concerns, and the way forward.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biotechnology, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar National Institute of Technology (NIT), Jalandhar, India

    Sumer Singh Meena & Anee Mohanty

Authors
  1. Sumer Singh Meena
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  2. Anee Mohanty
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Anee Mohanty .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biosciences, School of Science, Indrashil University, Mehsana, Gujarat, India

    Vijai Singh

  2. Department of Food Process Engineering, Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology and Sciences, Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, India

    Ajay Kumar Singh

  3. Gujarat Biotechnology Research Center, Department of Science and Technology, Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India

    Poonam Bhargava

  4. Gujarat Biotechnology Research Center, Department of Science and Technology, Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India

    Madhvi Joshi

  5. Gujarat Biotechnology Research Center, Department of Science and Technology, Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India

    Chaitanya G. Joshi

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Meena, S.S., Mohanty, A. (2020). Ethical, Patent, and Regulatory Issues in Microbial Engineering. In: Singh, V., Singh, A., Bhargava, P., Joshi, M., Joshi, C. (eds) Engineering of Microbial Biosynthetic Pathways. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-2604-6_8

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