If Drs. Glass and Venter succeed in assembling a viable synthetic bacterial genome, will the genome or the new life form itself be patentable?
Virgil H. Soule Frederick, Md.
The team that performed this work stirred controversy when it applied for a patent on a synthetic bacterial genome in October 2006. The patent hasn’t yet been granted
.—P. Barry
Log in
Subscribers, enter your e-mail address for full access to the Science News archives and digital editions.