Commercializing synthetic biology: Socio-ethical concerns and challenges under intellectual property regime

2009 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 135-158 ◽  
Author(s):  
Trichi Saukshmya ◽  
Archana Chugh
Keyword(s):  
Intellectual Property ◽  
Synthetic Biology ◽  
Ethical Concerns ◽  
Property Regime

Commercializing synthetic biology: Socio-ethical concerns and challenges under intellectual property regime

1969 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Trichi Saukshmya ◽  
Archana Chugh
Keyword(s):  
Biological Sciences ◽  
Intellectual Property ◽  
Synthetic Biology ◽  
Systems Engineering ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Biological Systems ◽  
Ethical Implications ◽  
Synthetic Organisms ◽  
Property Regime

Synthetic biology also termed as ‘genomic alchemy’ represents a powerful area of science that is based on the convergence of biological sciences with systems engineering. It focuses on building, modelling, designing and fabricating novel biological systems using customized gene components that result in artificially created genetic circuitry. As discussed in the present study, synthetic biology is an elegant consequence of amalgamation of various branches of science. It is speculated that the resulting synthetic organisms can successfully provide solutions for the problems where natural biological systems have failed. These artificially synthesized organisms can be tutored to meet diverse applications such as production of various biodrugs and creation of tailor-made metabolic pathways. Evidently, this revolutionary technology has the potential to transform human life directly and indirectly. The article provides an insight into the tremendous commercialization ability of synthetic biology in various sectors (bioenergy, medicine, and so on) as demonstrated by various initiatives, collaborative projects with huge investments. It is noteworthy that synthetic biology tools and organisms can be used for saving, creating ‘or’ destroying life; hence the study further deals with the socio-ethical implications of this rapidly advancing field of biology and also assesses the challenging role of intellectual property regime in commercialization of synthetic biology.

scholarly journals The story is that there is no story: media framing of synthetic biology and its ethical implications in the New York Times (2005–2015)

2018 ◽  
Vol 17 (03) ◽  
pp. A02 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Giordano ◽  
Yi-Lin Chung
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Synthetic Biology ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
New York Times ◽  
Media Framing ◽  
Public Knowledge ◽  
Academic Ethics ◽  
The Public ◽  
Ethical Concerns ◽  
Ethical Implications

Despite low public knowledge of synthetic biology, it is the focus of prominent government and academic ethics debates. We examine the “NY Times” media coverage of synthetic biology. Our results suggest that the story about synthetic biology remains ambiguous. We found this in four areas — 1) on the question of whether the field raises ethical concerns, 2) on its relationship to genetic engineering, 3) on whether or not it threatens ‘nature’, and 4) on the temporality of these concerns. We suggest that this ambiguity creates conditions in which there becomes no reason for the public at large to become involved.

scholarly journals The protection of cultural heritage: common heritage of humankind, national cultural ‘patrimony’ or private property?

2020 ◽  
Vol 64 (3) ◽  
pp. 351-364
Author(s):  
Fiona Macmillan
Keyword(s):  
Intellectual Property ◽  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
International Law ◽  
Private Property ◽  
Community Identity ◽  
Cultural Patrimony ◽  
Postcolonial Discourse ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Property Regime ◽  
Protection Of Cultural Heritage

Starting from an argument about the relationship between cultural heritage and national and/or community identity, this article considers the different ways in which both the international law regime for the protection of cultural heritage and the international intellectual property regime tend to appropriate cultural heritage. The article argues that, in the postcolonial context, both these forms of appropriation continue to interfere with the demands for justice and for the recognition of historical wrongs made both by indigenous peoples and by many developing countries. At the same time, the article suggests that these claims are undermined by the misappropriation of the postcolonial discourse with respect to restitution of cultural heritage, particularly in the intra-European context. The article advocates the need for a regime for the protection of cultural heritage that is strong enough to resist its private appropriation through the use of intellectual property rights and nuanced enough to recognise significant differences in the political context of local and national claims to cultural heritage.

Customary Norms

2019 ◽  
pp. 109-142
Author(s):  
Matthew H. Birkhold
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
Intellectual Property ◽  
Fan Fiction ◽  
Enforcement Mechanisms ◽  
The Right ◽  
Property Regime ◽  
Potential Origin

Analyzing twenty-two examples of fan fiction, Chapter 3 uncovers the unwritten customary norms that governed the production and dissemination of these works. After defining customary norms as an alternative to formal law and briefly accounting for their potential origin, this chapter analyzes each norm in detail. In all, five rules, or customary norms, governed the production of fan fiction in the eighteenth century. Together, they amounted to a customary intellectual property regime comprising rights, trespass norms, exceptions, and enforcement mechanisms. This chapter then examines an exception to the rules for publishers who held the right to publish sequels and continuations. Finally, it focuses on Nicolai’s Joys of Young Werther and Schiller’s Geisterseher as examples of the effectiveness of these mechanisms, showing how they prevented egregious departures from the customary norms.

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