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Mike iLL

| | | — | | Dig this: Genes for Sale: Cells from a human spleen . . . mice that are genetically predisposed to get cancer . . . bacteria that can digest oil . . . an extract from a tree native to India . . . There are at least two features that these all have in common: they are derived from living organisms, and they all have been patented as “human inventions.” Rapid developments in biotechnology during the last decade have enabled corporations and scientists to alter nature’s handiwork for commercial profit. A major strategy for private exploitation in this area is to obtain the patent rights to an organism or its component parts. As these developments affect all of society, we need to decide whether any corporation, institution, or individual should have the right to private ownership of life. |

Blown, Mike iLL

14/05/1999