Midterm Flashcards
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Ex Parte Latimer
Date: 1889
Names: U.S. Commissioner of Patents
Issue: U.S. Commissioner of Patents rejected an application for a patent to cover a fiber identified in the needs of a pine tree
Importance: This ruling established the longstanding tenet of common patent law termed the “product of nature doctrine,” which prevented people from receiving patents objects discovered in nature.
Neem Tree
Date: 1985
Names: Robert Larson
Issue: Patent on his process of extracting a chemical from neem oil, which he then sold to W. R. Grace & Co. The company marketed this oil as a form of insecticide.
Importance: The indigenous population, however, alleged that this was a form of biopiracy because they already knew about the properties of neem oil. Raises important questions about what qualified as innovation in biotechnology.
Genentech
Date: 1976
Names: Herbert Boyer and Robert Swanson
Issue: In 1980 filed an influential amicus brief on behalf of Chakrabarty in Diamond v Chakrabarty.
Importance: Influenced the outcome of this landmark Supreme Court case, which allowed genetically modified organisms to be patented.
Rockefeller Foundation
Date: 1950-1960s
Names: Dr. Norman Borlaug, a Rockefeller agronomist
Issue: Provided funding and hands on experience to the training of Mexican scientists in the field of agriculture during the Green Revolution.
Importance: They helped increase plant yields in Mexico, but they also further established US imperialism in the country.
The Green Revolution
Date: 1950-1960s
Names: Norman Borlaug is called the “Father of the Green Revolution” because of his introduction of high yielding plant varieties.
Issue: Set of research and technology transfer initiatives that increased agricultural production worldwide, particularly in the developing world.
Importance: Increased food production, but also created new forms of imperialism via biotechnology
HeLa
Date: 1951
Who: Henrietta Lacks
Issue: Dr. Geoge Gey formed a cell line called HeLa from biopsy tissue taken from the cervix of Henrietta Lacks, a young African-American woman seeking treatment at Johns Hopkins.
Importance: First widely used human cell line
Recombinant DNA
Date: 1973
Who: Herbert Boyer and Stanley Cohen
Issue: Invented recombinant DNA technology, which allows scientists to copy and paste DNA from one organism to another.
Importance: According to Kelves, this discovery was the “scientific key” to the commercialization of molecular biology.
Bayh-Dole
Date: 1980
Names: Senators Bayh (D) and Dole (R)
Issue: Allowed for the patenting of federally funded research.
Importance: Many people site this act as a cause of the rise of biotechnology.
OncoMouse
Date: 1988 (Patent awarded)
Names: Philip Leder and Tim Stewart
Issue: Developed the Oncomouse, a mouse genetically engineered to carry a specific gene that increased the mouse’s susceptibility to cancer making it more suitable for cancer research.
Importance: Patent considers non-human animals as intellectual property.
International Convention on Biodiversity
Date: 1992
Names: United Nations
Issue: Aimed to re-frame the international traffic, management, and commercial exploitation of biodiversity and traditional knowledge.
Importance: Recognized for the first time in international law that the conservation of biodiversity is a “common concern of humankind.” It also declared that biodiversity and cultural knowledge should no longer be considered free for the taking.
Treatment Naive
Date: 2011
Names: Targacept, a small North Carolina company that generated stunning results for an experimental antidepressant in a mid-stage study conducted in India — but saw that promise flicker when, in 2011, the drug failed in a late-stage study conducted in Europe.
Issue: A person is considered treatment naïve if they have never undergone treatment for a particular illness.
Importance: US pharmaceutical companies have sought out treatment naïve individuals for clinical trials.
Asilomar
Date: 1975
Names: Paul Berg
Issue: Paul Berg organized the Asilomar Conference on Recombinant DNA to discuss the potential biohazards and regulation of biotechnology. A group of about 140 professionals (primarily biologists) participated in the conference to draw up voluntary guidelines to ensure the safety of recombinant DNA technology.
Importance: This conference is significant for the history of biotechnology because it demonstrates efforts to place scientific research in the public domain. The effects of these guidelines also still influence modern biotechnologies.
