Patenting, Genes and Living Organisms

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Patenting, Genes and Living Organisms

SRT's Home Page on Patenting Living Organisms

Church of Scotland

We patent mechanical inventions and chemical processes, but should we be allowing the patenting of living things, like genetically modifed animals or sections of the human genome? But how should the ethical dimension to these things get decided? Patenting may be less glamorous than cloning or GM food, but the issues it raises are every bit as far reaching.

SRT's Patenting Pages

Patenting Life?
A simple introduction to the issues involved in gene patenting.
European Churches and the EC Patenting Directive Bioethics Working Group of the Conference of European Churches played a signficant role during the EC Patenting Directive negotiations. Here are links to the various critical submissions we made.
Patenting Life - Who owns the rights to genes and transgenic organisms?
A double-sided A4 information sheet in simple language, outlining the main issues.
Genetic Gold Rush
Is Human Genome Project more like the Wild West than Mega Science?
Discussion Paper on Stem Cell Patenting on behalf of the Conference of European Churches working group on bioethics for the European Commission's ethical advisory group (Nov.2001).
Cloning Patents
The patenting of the Dolly method of nuclear transfer cloning raises important questions about monopolies and social responsibility of companies.
Church of Scotland Report on Patenting Living Organisms
The 1997 General Assembly Scotland's national church gave its official view on patenting genes, living organisms and transgenic animals and plants.
Links to related pages

European Churches' Submissions 1996-98
during the drafting of the
EC Directive on Biotechnology Patenting

Critique of the Draft EC Patenting Directive
First Submission 17 October 1996 to the EC and Parliament from the European Ecumenical Commission for Church and Society (EECCS)
Clarification of the Submission on the EC draft Patenting Directive
Clearing up points which were misrepresented in the EECCS submission to the EC, 5 November 1996.
The Churches' Concerns on Patenting Living Material
Text of the European Churches' Presentation in Strasbourg to European Parliament members, 12 March 1997.
Press Release : Churches' Challenge MEP's on Patenting
An Overview of the Issues on the EC Patenting Directive, 12 March 1997.
Patenting Biological Material - A Case of Injustice?
European Churches' Submission to the European Parliament, 28 March 1998, regarding the Revised EC Draft Directive

Bioethics Working Group of the Conference of European Churches
For further information about the Church and Society Commission working group which made these submissions

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

This page has been produced by the Society Religion and Technology Project of the Church of Scotland. For our work on other issues, please explore the rest of the website. See also our SRT Publications List, or our On-line SRT Newsletter.

We'd also welcome any comments you may have. We don't claim to have said the last word!
If you want to send us a comment, or obtain further information, or receive a regular hard copy of our latest Newsletter, email us or send an ordinary letter or fax to :

Dr.Donald M.Bruce,
SRT Project, , 121 George Street, Edinburgh, EH2 4YN, Scotland.
tel. +44 (0)131-240 2250, fax +44 (0)131-240 2239,
email srtp@srtp.org.uk

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This page was last revised on 7 August 2003