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Gene Patents: A Broken Incentives System

  • Philosophical Exploration
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Abstract

The proliferation of patents on human genes has raised important ethical questions centered on the conflict of patient rights and intellectual property rights. With the Supreme Court’s June 2013 decision that altered the patent eligibility of genetic material, it is important to reexamine the ethical implications of gene patents as a concept. Such patents suggest an ownership of genetic material that may hinder access to healthcare and inhibit medical progress. The application of the current patent system to genetic material thus violates patients’ rights without fulfilling the system’s goal of promoting innovation, suggesting a need for a revised incentives infrastructure.

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Acknowledgments

Yun-Han Huang was supported by a Medical Scientist Training Program grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health under award number: T32GM07739 to the Weill Cornell/Rockefeller/Sloan-Kettering Tri-Institutional MD-PhD Program. The content of this essay is solely the responsibility of the author and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

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  1. Weill Cornell/Rockefeller/Sloan-Kettering Tri-Institutional MD-PhD Program, 1300 York Ave, New York, NY, 10065, USA

    Yun-Han Huang

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Correspondence to Yun-Han Huang.

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Huang, YH. Gene Patents: A Broken Incentives System. J Relig Health 52, 1079–1084 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-013-9758-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-013-9758-2

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