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Gene Patents Can Be Ethical

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 October 1998

GLENN McGEE
GLENN McGEE
Affiliation:
Center for Bioethics and School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
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Abstract

When one examines the emerging debate about genetic patenting, it becomes clear that those who oppose so-called “gene patents” misunderstand genetics or apply inappropriate moral and jurisprudential theory. In this brief essay I examine some arguments against gene patents of the “methods for detection” variety, and conclude that patents on methods for detecting the presence of a genetic correlation with disease-related (and other) phenotypes can be appropriate, and that with several precautions the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office should continue granting patent protection to investigators who generate genetic disease diagnostic innovations.

Type
BREAKING BIOETHICS
Information
Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics , Volume 7 , Issue 4 , October 1998 , pp. 417 - 421
Copyright
© 1998 Cambridge University Press

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