Genetic patents pose potent problem

Genetic patenting could transform medical research

One of the most controversial areas of medical research will be discussed soon when the European Parliament decides what kind of genetic material can be patented.

Biotechnology is crucial to developing more advanced drugs

But the legislation coming before MEPs has been criticised for giving pharmaceutical giants the go-ahead to patent life forms and put a price tag on human life itself.

Bio-technology is now at the centre of most drug firms' medical research, and is crucial in developing new treatments.

Companies believe patenting would boost any return on their work, but would push up the price for other firms.

This could mean that research into hereditary diseases like cancer would become too costly to carry out on a widespread scale.

Dr Gill Samuels, of Pfizer Research, believes patenting offers hope

However, supporters of genetic patenting claim the opposite is true - that legislation will lead to more research.

Dr Gill Samuels, of the global healthcare company, Pfizer Research, said: "If this patenting directive doesn't go through and we don't get Europe-wide harmonisation it will inhibit investment.

"European pharmaceutical companies, particularly those in the UK, have a strong history of success and if it blocks investment that would be a great pity."

Ethic questions remain

Three years ago MEPs rejected similar plans for genetic patenting but the current legislation would incorporate stronger safeguards and constraints, supporters claim.

Opponents still believe several ethical questions remain, though. One British woman, Tracey Meredith, has lived with the knowledge that many of her family have died from cancer and she could be at risk.

Tracey Meredith, who has a family history of cancer, fears cost of research could rise

A blood test has told her that she does not carry the hereditary gene but she is concerned that such examinations could become unaffordable if the legislation is passed.

She said: "It's frightening that a company can control something as important as this.

"Familes which suffer from hereditary cancers deserve their chance of having the test if they wish. If it is patented I'm frightened it would get a bit expensive."

'Patent rip-off'

There are further concerns over "bio-piracy", where subsistence farmers see their traditional crops patented by a company overseas.

Isabelle Delforge, a Belgian aid worker for Oxfam, says one US company took the genetic structure of Basmati rice - a crop traditionally farmed in south Asia - modified the genes slightly, then patented the resulting plant.

This enabled the large-scale farming of the rice in America, and a consequent loss of export earnings for Asian countries.

"This is an example of how the South is being ripped off by the patenting system," argues Ms Delforge.

She would like to see amendments in the proposed legislation that would mean people in developing countries did not have to surrender the rights to crops they had always farmed.

Ms Delforge also refutes the suggestion that genetic patenting is an incentive to valuable scientific research.

"They have done the research already without patenting," she argues. "We fear patenting could block research because it gives one company monopoly rights on one gene."

Some MEPs now believe the decision will be the hardest they ever take.