User:Laurameowting/sandbox

Gene Theft: "Property" and Commercialization of Body Tissue
Gene theft is the act of acquiring one’s DNA without consent and potentially using it for testing, identifying an individual, or even testing for medical background or history. While many claim this is an invasion of privacy, it may be hard to distinguish what is private property and what is not, regarding genetic material. DNA is the genetic makeup of an individual, defining who they are, what they look like and how different one may be from the next, but the body and its components may not technically be the individuals’ “property”. However, the term theft may be a misnomer for this topic as it pertains to removing personal property from someone, while no country explicitly regards DNA as property. Because of this, nonproperty existence that is DNA, where do tissues and organs fall into this, considering they are made up of DNA and proteins coded from such.

Legally, genes are a form of intellectual property, meaning they can be patented. However, this could lead to gene theft for profit, which would require some kind of regulation eventually. The patenting of genes can be commercially motivated because using a patented sequence means profit for the patent-holder. “Turning tissue, cell lines, and DNA into commodities violates body integrity, exploits powerless people, intrudes on community values, distorts research agendas, and weakens public trust in scientists and clinicians”. In a case where a leukemia patient’s blood, semen, marrow and skin were collected and patented, the court ruled the patient did not own his tissue and that doctors and biotechnology companies should profit, rather than the patient. Tissue or blood donation is devalued when commercialization of the same entities is present. Gene theft and profiting therefrom are also leading to impediments in research, as incentives may influence results; patenting also means less data sharing and openness in the scientific community. Ultimately, gene theft challenges social and moral values, as well as hinders the potential for future biomedical and biotechnological research as the commercialization of human genes, tissues, and the like become more prominent without regulation.