PATENTABLE HUMANS ? 

RARELY DO I GET INTO ANYTHING POLITICAL, BUT THE NEWS FOR POLITICIANS IS SO DISTURBING, I JUST COULDN'T RESIST.

A FEW YEARS AGO WHILE SPEAKING TO A PROVINCIAL POLITICAL PARTY MEETING, I WAS ASKED "WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE THIS PARTY?" MY RESPONSE: "TRY NOT TO GET ELECTED FOR THE NEXT TEN YEARS".

THE REASON SEEMS APPARENT. IT IS BECOMING INCREASINGLY DIFFICULT TO GOVERN ... ANYWHERE. WITH RAPID CHANGE, NONE OF THE FIXATIVES USED IN THE PAST WORK. IN FACT, A GOOD RULE OF THUMB IS THAT ANY LEGISLATION MADE WITH INDUSTRIAL AGE THINKING WILL ACT IN REVERSE FASHION TO THAT FOR WHICH IT IS INTENDED. WHETHER BECAUSE OF MY SUGGESTION, THE LEADER OF THAT PARTY RESIGNED SHORTLY THEREAFTER. HE SHOULD LOOK ON THAT AS A LIFE-EXTENSION BLESSING....

NOW THE LATEST HEADACHE. AND THERE ARE NO PRECEDENTS FOR THIS ONE. BARRING LAST-MINUTE ACTION BY U.S. CONGRESS, NEW PATENT REGULATIONS CREATED BY A RULING OF THE U.S. PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE APRIL 21 GOES INTO EFFECT OCTOBER 1. THE REGULATION WILL ALLOW CREATION OF "ANIMALS" BY GENETIC MANIPULATION! FIFTEEN SUCH PATENTS CONCERNING "LARGER ANIMALS" ARE ALREADY PENDING!

WE ARE NOT TALKING ABOUT AMOEBAS. THE ACT SPECIFIES "GENETICALLY- ENGINEERED HIGHER ORGANISMS". IN CASE YOU HAVEN'T GOT THE DRIFT YET, DEAR READER, THAT INCLUDES YOU !!

AT THE MOMENT HUMANS ARE SPECIFICALLY BARRED FROM BEING PATENTABLE UNDER THE U.S. THIRTEENTH AMENDMENT WHICH FORBIDS SLAVERY. THINK THAT MAKES YOU SAFE? READ ON.

HUMAN GENES HAVE ALREADY BEEN SUCCESSFULLY INJECTED INTO ANIMALS AS FAR BACK AS 1985. IF SOME TRAITS HAVE ALREADY BEEN TRANSFERRED TO ANIMALS, HOW MUCH MORE HUMAN GENOME WILL BE REQUIRED TO MAKE THAT ANIMAL HUMAN? FIFTY-ONE PERCENT? (I WILL BE IN CALIFORNIA AGAIN SHORTLY RESEARCHING A PLAN IN WHICH SOME PLANT DNA MIGHT BE TRANSFERRED INTO HUMANS! MORE ON THAT IN A LATER COLUMN.)

THIS THOUGHT WILL BE THE HOT SCIENTIFIC POLITICAL QUESTION OF THE YEAR. LOOK FOR ABORTION TO TAKE A BACK SEAT WHEN THIS HITS THE FAN. REPRESENTATIVE CHARLES ROSE, A DEMOCRAT FROM NORTH CAROLINA AND A SAVVY GUY IN THE HIGH TECH FIELD, WILL SOON INTRODUCE LEGISLATION PLACING A MORATORIUM ON APPROVAL OF SUCH PATENTS UNTIL THE ETHICAL AND ECONOMIC IMPLICATIONS COULD BE INVESTIGATED BY CONGRESS. SENATOR MARK O. HATFIELD PLANS TO TAKE SIMILAR ACTION IN THE SENATE. A PANIC- DRIVEN CONGRESSIONAL SUB-COMMITTEE WHO MET HURRIDLY IN LATE JULY (IN WASHINGTON'S SUMMER HUMIDITY!) LISTENED TO TESTIMONY ON THE PATENT OFFICE'S CONTROVERSIAL DECISION. NOBODY REALLY KNOWS YET IF "BIOLOGICAL INVENTION" DOES NOT ALREADY EXIST -- LEGALLY -- IN NATURE.

IF THE U.S. CLOSES THIS LATEST SCIENTIFIC AVENUE OF PURSUIT, WILL OTHER COUN RIES FOLLOW ? NOT LIKELY, WHEN VAST ECONOMIC BENEFITS LOOM IN THE FUTURE. THE U.S. OFFICE OF TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT HAS ALREADY RELEASED ESTIMATES THAT THE NEW BIOTECHNOLOGICAL INDUSTRY WILL REACH $100 BILLION IN SALES IN ANOTHER 12 YEARS! THAT'S A LOT OF TEMPTATION. NATIONS AS WELL AS GOVERNMENTS COULD FALL OVER THIS ONE.

WILLIAM H. DUFFY, PATENT ATTORNEY FOR THE GIANT U.S. MONSANTO CORPORATION, SAYS "IT WOULD BE SELF-DESTRUCTIVE OF AMERICA'S LEADERSHIP POSITION IN BIOTECHNOLOGY TO ALLOW THE OBJECTIONS OF A FEW OPPONENTS TO LEAD TO ILL-ADVISED RESTRAINTS ON THE PATENTING OF ANIMALS". IN CANADA, A 1982 DECISION SAID SUCH ORGANISMS AS BACTERIA MIGHT BE PATENTABLE BUT NO DEFINITIVE RULING MADE ON "HIGHER FORMS".

IN AN AGE WHERE WINDOWS OF OPPORTUNITY CLOSE QUICKLY, DELAY GIVES VICTORY TO THE UNHOBBLED. DEMOCRACY WILL HAVE A TOUGH TIME HANDLING THIS ONE.

THIS MEANS THAT THE "INVENTOR/OWNER" OF A "HIGHER ORGANISMS" PATENT WOULD HAVE A 17-YEAR PROTECTED LIFE, FREE FROM COMPETITION ON THE SALE AND USE OF SUCH ANIMALS -- JUST LIKE A PATENT ON A MICROWAVE OVEN, COMPUTER OPERATING SYSTEM OR A FAVOURITE ROSE SPECIES. THE LATTER BECAME PATENTABLE IN 1970. SINCE THEN MAJOR SEED COMPANIES HAVE ACQUIRED 120 SMALLER COMPANIES THAT PREVIOUSLY OPERATED INDEPENDENTLY. DUFFEY POINTED OUT AT THE CONGRESSIONAL HEARINGS MENTIONED THAT THE PATENT SYSTEM "IS THE ENGINE AND THE MACHINERY DRIVING THE INVESTMENT IN BIOTECHNOLOGY".

AND THERE IS THE DILEMMA FOR POLITICIANS. IF THEY DELAY ON ETHICAL, MORAL OR RELIGIOUS GROUNDS, THEY LOSE THE AMERICAN LEADERSHIP IN THIS FIELD. IF THEY APPROVE... ANIMAL, RELIGIOUS AND ENVIRONMENTAL GROUPS WILL HAUNT THEM FOREVER. THEY NEED HELP. WHAT'S YOUR OPINION?

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