Playing God? Owning God?--Patenting and the human genome.

It is just over 50 years since James Watson and Francis Crick published the news of their discovery of the structure of DNA1 – the molecule that encodes the genetic information present in all living organisms. Their letter, published on 25 April 1953, signified the beginning of the modern age of biology.2 In 2001, as a result of the activities of public and private sector bodies working on the Human Genome Project, a draft map of the human genome was published.3 It was found that the total number of genes in the human species was just over 30 000. The search is now underway to discover the operation of each of the genes so isolated. This paper is concerned with only one of the many social, economic and legal problems that arise out of the discovery of DNA and the consequent mapping of the human genome. The topic relates to intellectual property law: more specifically, the law of patents as it affects the discoveries and inventions that arise out of the unfolding knowledge about the genome, the genes that make it up, the work that those genes and intervening matter perform, the tests that are developed to identify the likely operations of the genes and the potential therapies that will be developed to modify, eliminate and manipulate genes that cause illness and premature death.4