二○○○年一月,詩人唐娜•麥克琳向英國專利局提出專利申請。她所想要申請的專利標的,則是她自己(herself)以及她自身的基因序列(her own genetic sequence)。唐娜說她花了三十年的時間,辛苦地塑造了她自己,為了防免她自己以及她的基因遭受任何未經授權的利用,她希望能申請對她自身的專利。不過,英國專利局毫不猶豫地拒絕了唐娜的申請,因為任何沒有獲利可能的發明或發現,都不是專利申請的對象。
二○○○年六月,人類基因組序列(the sequence of human genome)解碼的工作提前完成,以美國、英國為首的科學研究社群,首次公開了人體基因組序列的初稿。二○○三年四月,由六國科學家共同合作的人類基因組計畫,進一步地完成了人類基因組序列解碼的定稿,其準確率更宣稱已達99.9%(註二)。
首先,必須加以究明的是,在二○○○年六月美、英等國的科學家公布人類基因組序列初稿時,各方即已達成共識,基於人類基因組序列對於全人類的重要影響,主張其應由全人類所共享,不可申請專利保護(註六)。所以,目前人類基因組序列(the sequence of human genome)解碼的定稿,係公布於公開網站上,可供自由取得。所以,至少唐娜•麥克琳可以確定,沒有任何私人或政府,可以擁有我們全部的基因或身體。
註一:相關報導,請參閱 “Of Her Own Making”, N. Y. Times, March 12, 2000, at A4 Reuters.
註二:相關報導,請參閱 http://www.tssdnews.com.tw/2003/04/16/text/920416il.htm (last visited June 18, 2003).
註三:對於此案例的進一步分析,請參 閱Nuffield Council on Bioethics (2002), “The Ethics of Patenting DNA: A Discussion Paper”, pp. 37- 45.
註四:See id.
註五:Brett Frischmann (2000), “Innovation and Institutions: Rethinking the Economics of U.S. Science and Technology Policy”, Vermont Law Review 24, p.347 .
註六:Nuffield Council on Bioethics (2002), “The Ethics of Patenting DNA: A Discussion Paper”, pp. 3-7.
註七:Resnik, David B (2001), “DNA Patents and Human Dignity”, Journal of Law, Medicine and Ethics 29.
註八:See id.
註九:Id.
註十:這也是美國著名案例Moore v. Regents of the University of California, 793 P. 2d. 479 (Cal. 1990)所涉及其中的一個議題。關於本案例討論的中文文獻,請參閱顏厥安(2002),「財產、人格,還是資訊?論人類基因的法律地位」,《國立台灣大學法學論叢》31卷1期,頁1-44。
註十一:Barry Brown (2001), “The Case for Cautio-Being Protective of Human Dignity in the Face of Corporate Forces Taking Title to Our DNA”, Juournal of Law, Medicine and Ethics 29.
註十二:Charlotte H. Harrison (2002), “Neither Moore nor the Market: Alternative Models for Compen- sating Contributions of Human Tissue”, American Journal of Law & Medicine 28, p.77.
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2. Brown, Barry (2001), “The Case for Cautio- Being Protective of Human Dignity in the Face of Corporate Forces Taking Title to Our DNA”, Journal of Law, Medicine and Ethics29.
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4. Katz, Dana & Merz, Jon F.(2000), “Patents and Licensing, Policy, Patenting of Inventions Developed with Public Funds”, in Encyclopedia of Ethical, Legal, and Policy Issues in Biotechnology .
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