After five months of continuous effort, the Macondo well is finally “sealed,” thanks to operation “bottom kill.”  Now, to clean up the rest of the mess- not on the shores, but on the environmental, legal, economic, political, and social fronts. Economically, BP announced $17 billion in losses during the second quarter alone.  Politically, the House of Representatives is looking into preventing BP from obtaining future leases for offshore drilling.   Socially, BP must deal with the responsibility for the eleven deaths in April 20^th blowout. (Other parties responsible for the Deepwater Horizon explosion are Transocean Ltd., the owner of the rig, and Halliburton Co., the project’s cement contractor.)

It is estimated that 4.9 million barrels of oil escaped into the Gulf of Mexico this summer.  Government estimates state that a quarter of that total evaporated or dissolved, another was burned or captured, and a quarter can be seen as a sheen on the water’s surface, a gooey mess washing up on shore, or tar balls that will continue to hit the shore for years.  But what happened to that last quarter?  It’s still out there, floating below the ocean’s surface.

Many are asking how long the effects of the spill will last.  To some, it is the question of when gulf seafood will again be trusted.  To others, it asks when tourists will return.  Louisiana owns most of the 109 miles of affected coastline, and scientists say oil could be washing up on beaches for the next 20 years.

You might believe you are independent, extraordinary and free – that you choose your destiny and sky’s the limit. But what if someone already owns parts of you; significant pieces that make who you are? Yep, your genes are up for sale.

Current US Patent Office policy allows the patenting of isolated genes. An example of such a gene is BRCA1, by Myriad Genetics, which can predict a woman’s chance of developing breast and ovarian cancer. From these patented genes, companies are able to create and generate revenue from diagnostic tools that test for specific diseases.

However, this is creating a problem for scientists since the ability to own genetic intellectual property greatly slows down the research process. Research into tests and diseases, such as cancer, now requires researchers to obtain licenses from patent holders.

Therefore, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has recently argued before the federal district court judge Robert Sweet that patents on genes are unconstitutional. The suit has argued that “because every human has these genes, the patents infringe on First Amendment rights of freedom of scientific inquiry and the free exchange of ideas.”

In my opinion, I strongly believe the ability to patent on genetic material is unconstitutional. The US Patent Office denies the ability to patent the obvious, such as a color or a shape. Similarly, genes are common and shared among nearly everyone, which makes it universal and obvious. Furthermore, a patent should be awarded for inventions, not discoveries. Merely finding something does not mean that you created it; discovering a gene is very different from inventing the thermometer and syringe.

Lastly, although the presence of private industry is important in scientific research, I feel research on the basic level should not be limited by industry concerns. Instead, the information should be allowed to flow freely, and industry may own the rights to tools or techniques that stem from these discoveries.

- blog authored by Kevin Li

Related to the recent California octuplets case, a Georgia state senator has drafted a bill limiting the number of embryos that may be transferred by fertility doctors. For women under 40, the bill states that no more than two embryos shall be implanted in a woman’s uterus. For women over 40, the number increases to three. The proposed legislation is designed to limit the chance of triplets, quadruplets, and higher-order multiple births. These babies are at very high risk for serious medical complications, including death.

Though the embryo limits made most of the news, there’s other language in the bill that is, let’s say, interesting. (Read more…)