Biotech Firms
Are they here to help us, or just to make money?
In the August issue of Reader's Digest, author and writer Michael Crowley reports on Biotech firms: please read the full article here
Here is an excerpt from the article:
A few years ago, UCLA geneticist Wayne Grody was working hard to help deaf children. Grody was conducting clinical tests on Connexin 26, a human gene linked to deafness, hoping it would lead to more effective treatment for kids. Then one day he received a letter from Athena Diagnostics, a Massachusetts-based biotechnology company. Grody says the letter informed him that Athena owned a patent for the Connexin 26 gene -- and he could no longer perform tests on it himself. Instead, he would have to pay thousands of dollars up-front and send future gene samples to Athena for testing. He had no choice. "I had to stop," Grody says. "The cost was out of sight." The clinical tests ground to a halt. ....
.....You can help get Congress to tackle gene patents, too, by contacting your representatives in Washington. [Yes, it is that important!]
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Are they here to help us, or just to make money?
In the August issue of Reader's Digest, author and writer Michael Crowley reports on Biotech firms: please read the full article here
Here is an excerpt from the article:
A few years ago, UCLA geneticist Wayne Grody was working hard to help deaf children. Grody was conducting clinical tests on Connexin 26, a human gene linked to deafness, hoping it would lead to more effective treatment for kids. Then one day he received a letter from Athena Diagnostics, a Massachusetts-based biotechnology company. Grody says the letter informed him that Athena owned a patent for the Connexin 26 gene -- and he could no longer perform tests on it himself. Instead, he would have to pay thousands of dollars up-front and send future gene samples to Athena for testing. He had no choice. "I had to stop," Grody says. "The cost was out of sight." The clinical tests ground to a halt. ....
.....You can help get Congress to tackle gene patents, too, by contacting your representatives in Washington. [Yes, it is that important!]
<table cellspacing="0" width="435" summary="for layout only"><tbody><tr><td><table class="main" width="100%" summary="for layout only"><tbody><tr class="main"><td class="main" width="100%">
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Comments: 2
Biotech firms, and all businesses, are supposed to provide a needed product or service and make money doing it, but this is an example wher a needed product is being withheld from the market because of a failure of the government to properly control the issuance of patents.