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The Patentability of Synthetic Organisms
Creating Life from Scratch: The Patentability of Synthetic Organisms Michael Saunders* I. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................... 75 II. PATENTING MICROBIAL LIFE—CHAKRABARTY ................................ 77 III. PATENTING MULTICELLULAR LIFE—HARVARD ONCOMOUSE .......... 80 IV. IMPLICATIONS FOR SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY .......................................... 83 A. Single-Celled Synthetic Organisms ......................................... 83 B. Multicellular Synthetic Organisms .......................................... 86 V. CONCLUSIONS ..................................................................................... 88 I. INTRODUCTION Published in May 2007, U.S. application no. 20070122826 (Venter patent) describes a minimally operative genome of the bacterium Mycoplasma genitalium consisting of 381 genes, which the inventors believe to be essential for the survival of the bacterium in an environment containing all the necessary nutrients and free from stress.1 However, the team of inventors from the J. Craig Venter Institute is trying to accomplish something more than just the usual patenting of genes; they intend to create and patent the world’s first artificial organism. The team has already cleared two of the three major hurdles on its way to constructing this first synthetic organism. In January 2008, they announced completion of the second step, the laboratory synthesis of the entire 582,970 base pairs of the genome described in the patent above.2 What remains is the third and final step of inserting this human-made genome into a bacterial cell chassis and “booting up” the organism.3 Craig Venter and Hamilton Smith, lead researchers on the team have been discussing the creation of synthetic life since 1995, when their team published the first complete genome sequence of a living * © 2008 Michael Saunders. J.D. candidate 2009, Tulane University School of Law; B.S. 2003, Bucknell University. 1. -
Bears and Traditional Medicine World Animal Protection Email: [email protected]
Correspondent: Mr Gilbert M. Sape Global Head of Campaign - Bears and Traditional Medicine World Animal Protection Email: [email protected] Joint open letter to: Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus Dr Zhang Qi Director General Co-ordinator of Traditional and Complementary World Health Organisation Medicine Unit (TCM) Avenue Appia 20 Department of Service Delivery and Safety 1211 Geneva World Health Organisation Switzerland Avenue Appia 20 1211 Geneva Switzerland 6th April 2020 Dear Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and Dr Zhang Qi, COVID-19: Health risks and wildlife1 markets – the need for a permanent global ban on wildlife markets and a highly precautionary approach to wildlife trade. The undersigned organisations acknowledge and commend the World Health Organisation’s current efforts to contain the pandemic spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19). On the occasion of World Health Day, in the midst of a global pandemic believed to have originated in a live wildlife market, we call upon the WHO to publicly and unequivocally state the proven link between these markets and serious threats to human health. In line with its stated mission to serve public health at all times, we urge the WHO to recommend that governments worldwide permanently ban live wildlife markets and the use of wildlife in traditional medicine. This decisive action, well within the WHO’s mandate, would be an impactful first step in adopting a highly precautionary approach to wildlife trade that poses a risk to human health. While a robust global response is critical in detecting, treating and reducing transmission, it is equally necessary to take vital measures to prevent similar emerging infectious diseases developing into pandemics with the associated threats to human life, and social and economic well-being. -
Women's Experimental Autobiography from Counterculture Comics to Transmedia Storytelling: Staging Encounters Across Time, Space, and Medium
Women's Experimental Autobiography from Counterculture Comics to Transmedia Storytelling: Staging Encounters Across Time, Space, and Medium Dissertation Presented in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of Ohio State University Alexandra Mary Jenkins, M.A. Graduate Program in English The Ohio State University 2014 Dissertation Committee: Jared Gardner, Advisor Sean O’Sullivan Robyn Warhol Copyright by Alexandra Mary Jenkins 2014 Abstract Feminist activism in the United States and Europe during the 1960s and 1970s harnessed radical social thought and used innovative expressive forms in order to disrupt the “grand perspective” espoused by men in every field (Adorno 206). Feminist student activists often put their own female bodies on display to disrupt the disembodied “objective” thinking that still seemed to dominate the academy. The philosopher Theodor Adorno responded to one such action, the “bared breasts incident,” carried out by his radical students in Germany in 1969, in an essay, “Marginalia to Theory and Praxis.” In that essay, he defends himself against the students’ claim that he proved his lack of relevance to contemporary students when he failed to respond to the spectacle of their liberated bodies. He acknowledged that the protest movements seemed to offer thoughtful people a way “out of their self-isolation,” but ultimately, to replace philosophy with bodily spectacle would mean to miss the “infinitely progressive aspect of the separation of theory and praxis” (259, 266). Lisa Yun Lee argues that this separation continues to animate contemporary feminist debates, and that it is worth returning to Adorno’s reasoning, if we wish to understand women’s particular modes of theoretical ii insight in conversation with “grand perspectives” on cultural theory in the twenty-first century. -
The True Cost of American Food – Conference Proceedings
i The True Cost of American Food – Conference proceedings Foreword Patrick Holden Founder and Chief Executive of the Sustainable Food Trust I am delighted to be writing this foreword for the proceedings of our conference. I hope it will be a useful resource for everyone with an interest in food systems externalities and True Cost Accounting; and that should include everyone who eats! The True Cost of American Food Conference brought together more than 600 participants to listen to high quality presentations from a wide range of leading experts, representing farming, food businesses, research and academic organizations, policy makers, NGOs, public health institutions, organizations representing civil society and food justice, the investment community, funding foundations and philanthropists. As an organization which has contributed in a significant way to the development of the conceptual framework for True Cost Accounting in food and farming, we were delighted that the conference attracted such an impressive attendance of leaders from a range of sectors, all actively committed to taking this initiative forward. Looking forward, clearly one of the key challenges is how we can best convey an easy-to- grasp understanding of True Cost Accounting to individual citizens, who have reasonably assumed until now that the price tag on individual food products reflects of the true costs involved in its production. As we have now come to realize, this is often far from the case; in fact it would be no exaggeration to state that the current food pricing system is dishonest, in that it fails to include the hidden impacts of the production system, both negative and positive, on the environment and public health. -
The Year of the Pig
The Year of the Pig FOOD FORWARD FORUM Toolkit The China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation is a proactive environmental non-governmental organization and social legal entity working to protect the environment, preserve natural resources and biodiversity in China and all around the globe. Founded in 1985, it is China’s oldest environmental non-governmental organization. The Good Food Fund aims to facilitate shifts in food production, distribution, and consumption patterns towards a healthier and more sustainable food system, by supporting relevant research, communication, and entrepreneurship efforts. Toolkit research, creation, and compilation: Caroline Wimberly*, Wanqing Zhou*, and Yi-Wen Lee Design: Tingting Xiong Copyright © Good Food Fund August 2019 Special thanks to Mia MacDonald, Jian Yi, Tiran Zhang, Ruiqi Xie, Jieli Xie, Cecilia Zhou, Cui Xin, Hailey Chang, Wenjing Zhu, Shuman Liu, Adam Millman, Chelsey Toong, and Cheng Qiu for your input and assistance Food Forward Forum logo design: William Wilson, Yale Hospitality Food Forward Forum Partners: The contents of this toolkit do not necessarily reflect the official positions of any organization, institution, or private enterprise that partnered with or participated in the Food Forward Forum in February 2019 or any of the organizations, networks, corporations, or individuals described in the text. *Brighter Green Contents Part I – Background and the Basics 03 Introduction to some key terms and concepts about food Part II – Deeper Dive: The Issue Nexus 11 -
10 Harvard Mouse
The Harvard Mouse or the transgenetic technique Term Paper Biology Georgina Cibula, 4e LIST of Contents Preface What is my motivation to work on the chosen topic? What is especially interesting? What are our questions with respects to the chosen topic? Introduction What is the context of the chosen topic? What is the recent scientific history? Where and why is the technique used? Are there alternatice treatments? Description of engineering technique No institution visited Discussion What progress was made with the application of the chosen technique? What future research steps? Ethical aspects Summary References PREFACE What is my motivation to work on the chosen topic? There are many reasons. One of them is that it’s a very interesting topic. It is fascinating, how you can increase or decrease the functionality of organisms. What is especially interesting? The intricacy. And that you can use the method not only for mice but for every organism. For example in the Green genetic engineering (to make plants more resistant) or for pharmaceuticals like human insulin. Some genes are responsible for the aging process. So if we can find those genes and deactivate them we would life longer. First successful experiments with animals where already made. What I also like about this topic is the big ethic question behind it. I mean in the end we use animals, often mice because of their similarity to our genes, to benefit of them. We intentional make them ill and lock them into small cages. But on the other hands medicaments can be tested or invented which can save many human lifes. -
Review of the Number of Members of the Northern Ireland Legislative
Assembly and Executive Review Committee Review of the Number of Members of the Northern Ireland Legislative Assembly and on the Reduction in the Number of Northern Ireland Departments Part 1 - Number of Members of the Northern Ireland Legislative Assembly Together with the Minutes of Proceedings of the Committee relating to the Report, the Minutes of Evidence, Written Submissions, Northern Ireland Assembly Research and Information Papers and Other Papers Ordered by the Assembly and Executive Review Committee to be printed on 12 June 2012 Report: NIA 52/11-15 (Assembly and Executive Review Committee) REPORT EMBARGOED UNTIL COMMENCEMENT OF THE DEBATE IN PLENARY Mandate 2011/15 Second Report Committee Powers and Membership Committee Powers and Membership Powers The Assembly and Executive Review Committee is a Standing Committee established in accordance with Section 29A and 29B of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 and Standing Order 59 which provide for the Committee to: ■ consider the operation of Sections 16A to 16C of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 and, in particular, whether to recommend that the Secretary of State should make an order amending that Act and any other enactment so far as may be necessary to secure that they have effect, as from the date of the election of the 2011 Assembly, as if the executive selection amendments had not been made; ■ make a report to the Secretary of State, the Assembly and the Executive Committee, by no later than 1 May 2015, on the operation of Parts III and IV of the Northern Ireland Act 1998; and ■ consider such other matters relating to the functioning of the Assembly or the Executive as may be referred to it by the Assembly. -
Leaving the Meatrix? Transformative Learning and Denialism in the Case of Meat Consumption
Environmental Education Research ISSN: 1350-4622 (Print) 1469-5871 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/ceer20 Leaving the Meatrix? Transformative learning and denialism in the case of meat consumption Reingard Spannring & Tomaž Grušovnik To cite this article: Reingard Spannring & Tomaž Grušovnik (2018): Leaving the Meatrix? Transformative learning and denialism in the case of meat consumption, Environmental Education Research, DOI: 10.1080/13504622.2018.1455076 To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/13504622.2018.1455076 © 2018 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group Published online: 25 Mar 2018. Submit your article to this journal Article views: 365 View Crossmark data Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=ceer20 ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION RESEARCH, 2018 https://doi.org/10.1080/13504622.2018.1455076 OPEN ACCESS Leaving the Meatrix? Transformative learning and denialism in the case of meat consumption Reingard Spannringa and Tomaž Grušovnikb aInstitute for Educational Science, University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria; bInstitute for Educational Sciences, University of Primorska, Koper, Slovenia ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY Despite growing evidence of many environmental and other problems being Received 27 April 2017 caused by industrialized meat production, the issue of meat consumption Accepted 8 March 2018 is still generally seen as a private affair that has nothing to do with politics KEYWORDS or education. This article problematizes meat consumption and discusses Transformative learning transformative learning theory in the light of the authors’ experiences with theory; meat consumption; denialism in critical meat education. It reveals the potential of a cross- denialism fertilization through which transformative learning theory gains complexity and critical meat education benefits from a more coherent theoretical and practical frame. -
L'activisme Animaliste Et Ses Répercussions Sur La Politique Belge
Université Libre de Bruxelles Institut de Gestion de l’Environnement et d’Aménagement du Territoire Faculté des Sciences Master en Sciences et Gestion de l'Environnement L’activisme animaliste et ses répercussions sur la politique belge Mémoire de Fin d'Etudes présenté par THIBAUT, LISA en vue de l'obtention du grade académique de Master en Sciences et Gestion de l'Environnement Finalité Gestion de l’Environnement Année Académique : 2018-2019 Directeur : Prof. Edwin Zaccai Mes remerciements les plus profonds aux douze activistes et militants politiques qui m’ont accordé leur confiance et ont pris le temps de répondre à mes questions. Grâce à eux, j’ai pu mieux comprendre la lutte antispéciste et ce qu’elle signifiait au quotidien pour chacun d’entre eux. Merci tout particulièrement à mon directeur de mémoire, le professeur Edwin Zaccai, pour son aide précieuse, ses corrections et ses conseils avisés. Merci à William Thibaut, Myriam Chapuis et Corneliu Gaina pour leur soutien sans faille. Merci à Julie Pondant, Violaine Jouan, Quentin Aubert, Viviane Thibaut et Géraldine Papegnies pour leurs conseils et leur relecture. Résumé La problématique du mémoire s’articule autour du cas de l’animalisme en Belgique, et plus particulièrement de la branche de la lutte antispéciste, et de ses retombées dans le monde politique. Quel pouvoir politique peuvent avoir concrètement ces mouvements sur les animaux ? Pour répondre à cette question, un état des lieux concernant les droits des animaux a été réalisé dans plusieurs parties du monde, avec un focus particulier sur l’historique et la situation actuelle de l’Union Européenne. -
University-Industry Partnerships and the Licensing of the Harvard Mouse
PATENTS Managing innovation: university-industry partnerships and the licensing of the Harvard mouse Sasha Blaug1,Colleen Chien1 & Michael J Shuster DuPont’s Oncomouse patent licensing program continues to cause a stir in academia and industry. ver the last several decades, technology restructuring in the 1980s resulting in optimized for mutual near- and long-term Oand technological innovation have reduced industry R&D spending and scarcer benefits to the parties? Recently this dialog gradually replaced manufacturing and agri- federal R&D funding. Increased technology has been focused on DuPont’s licensing of culture as the main drivers of the US econ- transfer has sparked a debate on univ- the transgenic ‘Harvard mouse,’ subse- omy. The unparalleled system of American ersities’ roles in the national economy: on quently trademarked as the Oncomouse6. research universities1 and their association the extent to which these relationships affect http://www.nature.com/naturebiotechnology with industry are important drivers of the the mission of universities to carry out The Oncomouse patents new economy. The relationship between and disseminate the results of basic DuPont’s patent licensing program for universities and industry is multifaceted, research, and on how universities can man- ‘Oncomouse technology’ has caused a stir in encompassing exchanges of knowledge, age their partnerships, collaborations and academia and industry for over a decade7. expertise, working culture and money. technology transfer without compromising These patents broadly claim transgenic Whereas the transfer of technology from their mission. nonhuman mammals expressing cancer- universities to industry has been going on In the basic research paradigm, inves- promoting oncogenes, a basic research tool for more than a century, ties between uni- tigators’ inquiries are directed toward dev- widely used in the fight against cancer. -
Letter to the European Commission
To: Commissioners Kyriakides and Wojciechowski European Commission B-1049 Brussels, Belgium Please reply to: Animal Politics Foundation [email protected] Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal 32 1012RZ Amsterdam, The Netherlands Subject: Live animal transports 15th of April 2021 Dear Commissioners Kyriakides and Wojciechowski, We, politicians from all over the world, call on the European Commission to take immediate steps to ensure effective protection of animals during long-distance transport. Article 13 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU stipulates that, as sentient beings, full regard should be paid to animal welfare requirements. However, time and time again, it has been shown that this fundamental part of the EU treaties is being ignored in the case of long-distance live animal transport. We ask the European Commission to act with the urgency appropriate to such situations involving the life and death of sentient beings. Millions of animals are transported annually, both within the European Union and to third countries. Animals are transported in terrible conditions, on journeys that can last several days, weeks or even months. They are crammed inside often dirty vehicles (trucks, vessels, and airplanes), suffer from high temperatures, dehydration, a lack of ventilation and stress. Many die during the journey. The recent tragedies on board the Queen Hind, Karim Allah and Elbeik vessels show it is time to take action. In all these cases, contingency plans were lacking, massive and severe animal suffering and the death of thousands of animals as a result. COVID-19 has worsened the situation: animals are regularly stuck at borders, sometimes with more than a 12-hour delay. -
Guide to Biotechnology 2008
guide to biotechnology 2008 research & development health bioethics innovate industrial & environmental food & agriculture biodefense Biotechnology Industry Organization 1201 Maryland Avenue, SW imagine Suite 900 Washington, DC 20024 intellectual property 202.962.9200 (phone) 202.488.6301 (fax) bio.org inform bio.org The Guide to Biotechnology is compiled by the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) Editors Roxanna Guilford-Blake Debbie Strickland Contributors BIO Staff table of Contents Biotechnology: A Collection of Technologies 1 Regenerative Medicine ................................................. 36 What Is Biotechnology? .................................................. 1 Vaccines ....................................................................... 37 Cells and Biological Molecules ........................................ 1 Plant-Made Pharmaceuticals ........................................ 37 Therapeutic Development Overview .............................. 38 Biotechnology Industry Facts 2 Market Capitalization, 1994–2006 .................................. 3 Agricultural Production Applications 41 U.S. Biotech Industry Statistics: 1995–2006 ................... 3 Crop Biotechnology ...................................................... 41 U.S. Public Companies by Region, 2006 ........................ 4 Forest Biotechnology .................................................... 44 Total Financing, 1998–2007 (in billions of U.S. dollars) .... 4 Animal Biotechnology ................................................... 45 Biotech