Merz Jon F, Cho Mildred K
Department of Medical Ethics, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19104-3308, USA.
Community Genet. 2005;8(4):203-8. doi: 10.1159/000087956.
This article examines what it means to patent a gene. Numerous ethical concerns have been raised about the effects of such patents on clinical medical practice as well as on research and development. We describe what kinds of inventions are covered by human gene patents, give several examples and summarize the small body of empirical research performed in the US examining the effects of these patents. There is little evidence that early fears about gene patenting placing substantial restraints on research and clinical medicine have come to fruition. Nonetheless, there are areas of concern, and policy makers, physicians and the public should be alert to ensure that the net social benefits of patenting human genes are maintained.
本文探讨了为基因申请专利意味着什么。关于此类专利对临床医学实践以及研发的影响，人们提出了诸多伦理方面的担忧。我们描述了人类基因专利涵盖的发明类型，给出了几个例子，并总结了美国进行的少量实证研究，这些研究考察了这些专利的影响。几乎没有证据表明，早期对基因专利会给研究和临床医学带来重大限制的担忧已经成为现实。尽管如此，仍存在一些令人担忧的领域，政策制定者、医生和公众应保持警惕，以确保人类基因专利的社会净效益得以维持。
