Transcript Over 70 US patents for use of Indian neem tree

Today: Patenting Life
*Exam #2 Th 3/26
Monsanto Stock price
http://research.scottrade.com/public/stocks/snapshot/snapshot.asp
Many Questions, but Few
Answers?
• Are herbicide or insect resistant plants
safe to eat?
• Are GM foods safe for the
environment?
• Are GM foods profitable for:
– Consumers, Farmers, and Companies?
% of Total US Acres
Common GM Crops in the U.S.
http://blog.wired
.com/wiredscien
ce/2007/09/mon
santo-ishap.html
Types of Genetically Modified Crops
Herbicide Tolerance; Insect Resistance; Viral Resistance
Patents give 20 year monopoly for
inventor
www.uspto.gov
Three types of U.S. patents:
1) Utility patents may be granted to anyone who
invents or discovers any new and useful process,
machine, article of manufacture, or composition of
matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof;
2) Design patents may be granted to anyone who
invents a new, original, and ornamental design for an
article of manufacture; and
3) Plant patents may be granted to anyone who
invents or discovers and asexually reproduces any
distinct and new variety of plant.
www.uspto.gov
Examples of current patents:
•Atryn- antithrombin produced in transgenic
goats (in milk) has anti-clotting properties
Examples of current patents:
•Atryn- antithrombin produced in transgenic
goats (in milk) has anti-clotting properties
•Evolutec has patents on proteins in tick saliva
for use as anti-inflammatory
Examples of current patents:
•Atryn- antithrombin produced in transgenic
goats (in milk) has anti-clotting properties
•Evolutec has patents on proteins in tick saliva
for use as anti-inflammator
•GTG in Australia has patents on non-coding
human DNA for detecting risk of various
diseases
Examples of current patents:
•Atryn- antithrombin produced in transgenic
goats (in milk) has anti-clotting properties
•Evolutec has patents on proteins in tick saliva
for use as anti-inflammatory
•GTG in Australia has patents on non-coding
human DNA for detecting risk af various
diseases
•Over 70 U.S. patents for use of Indian neem
tree
Neem, say the women, helps babies sleep, keeps
flies away, is a cosmetic, a disinfectant and a
pesticide. Its leaves make good cattle fodder, its
twigs are good for teeth and gums. It is used, they
say, for snake bites, malaria, hysteria, high blood
pressure, pain relief, skin diseases and a host of
other ailments.
Over 70 U.S. patents for use
of Indian neem tree
Neem, say the women, helps babies sleep, keeps
flies away, is a cosmetic, a disinfectant and a
pesticide. Its leaves make good cattle fodder, its
twigs are good for teeth and gums. It is used, they
say, for snake bites, malaria, hysteria, high blood
pressure, pain relief, skin diseases and a host of
other ailments.
Over 70 U.S. patents for
use of Indian neem tree
One was rejected due to
previous use in indigenous
Indian culture
Concerns of developing nations vs.
industrialized countries
Bioprospecting
Lack of research on third world problems.
(tuberculosis, malaria, cholera, dysentery…
Not profitable.
Bioprospecting