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Who "owns" cells and tissues?

K Lebacqz1

  • 1klebacqz@mcn.org

Health Care Analysis : HCA : Journal of Health Philosophy and Policy
|January 25, 2002
PubMed
Summary

Arguments against patenting DNA fragments are often unhelpful. Patenting is supported by labor rights and medical inventiveness, but the common good provides a stronger, more flexible justification for both supporting and limiting DNA patents.

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Area of Science:

  • Biotechnology Law
  • Intellectual Property
  • Bioethics

Background:

  • Ethical debates surrounding the patenting of biological materials, including cells and tissues, often rely on arguments about the sanctity of life.
  • These arguments are frequently insufficient when addressing the patenting of specific DNA fragments.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To critically evaluate the ethical and legal justifications for patenting DNA fragments.
  • To explore the implications of different ethical frameworks, such as labor rights and utilitarianism, on intellectual property law in biotechnology.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of existing legal and ethical arguments concerning biological material ownership.
  • Examination of the labor theory of ownership and utilitarian justifications for patents.
  • Discussion of the 'common good' as a principle for patent policy.

Main Results:

  • Arguments based on the special or sacred nature of the human body are not conducive to patent law concerning DNA.
  • The labor theory of ownership, while having some merit, faces significant critique.
  • Utilitarian arguments supporting DNA patenting for medical inventiveness are more persuasive.
  • The 'common good' emerges as a crucial ethical consideration for patenting DNA.

Conclusions:

  • Patenting of DNA fragments should be primarily justified and potentially limited by considerations of the common good.
  • This framework allows for a more nuanced approach to intellectual property in biotechnology, balancing innovation with public interest.
Keywords:
Analytical ApproachBiomedical and Behavioral ResearchGenetics and Reproduction

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