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Cohen-Boyer Process
In essence, the Cohen-Boyer process of genetic alteration is the method in which recombinant DNA from one organism is targeted, spliced and introduced to an unrelated organism’s DNA. The revolutionary process allowed the introduction, replication, and thus, transferal of genetic material between living organisms —  primarily viruses, plasmids, and bacteria. The Cohen-Boyer Process expanded on previous efforts developed by biochemist, Paul Berg, but were the first to demonstrate the viability and importance of recombinant DNA in genetic modification.

Patents
Cohen and Boyer were not initially interested in filing patents on their work. In 1974 they agreed to file a joint patent application, administered through Stanford, and benefiting both universities. As the Cohen-Boyer Process was groundbreaking in its time, Diamond v. Chakrabarty was a United States Supreme Court case that ensued from the debate and controversy of granting patent rights to processes that genetically alter life forms. The Supreme Court Ruled in 5-4 favor to allow patents of genetically modified processes to be sought. Three patents were eventually granted for the Boyer-Cohen process, one on the actual process (1980), one on prokaryotic hosts (1984) and one on eukaryotic hosts (1988). Licenses were granted non-exclusively for "a moderate fee". Four hundred seventy-eight companies took out licenses, making it one of the university's top five revenue earners. Thousands of products have been developed on the basis of the Boyer-Cohen patents. The Boyer-Cohen patents however were controversial due to its scope as they laid claim to the fundamental technology of gene splicing, and led to many challenges to the validity of the patents in the 1980s. Stanford was tasked with creating a licensing program that aligned with its university’s goals of being champions of research for the public good and allowing the process to be distributed to as many companies as possible to further increase income to the universities, but ultimately, to foster science and research. This ended up creating thousands of new products that benefited humanity and a billion dollar biotech revolution. The patents were unusual in that they dominated almost all other patents in the field of molecular biotechnology, and in no other industry have there been patents that had such an all-embracing impact. It also made other universities around the world become aware of the commercial value of the scientific work by their academic staff.