Verbs and expressions that are used to refer to other people’s ideas

Genetic Engineering and the Patenting of Life

Many religious traditions say that Life is a gift from God, given freely for the benefit of all, and not to be owned by individuals or groups. Many scientists also say it is wrong to patent Life. They assert that genes belong to the whole human race. In 2000 the presidents of the Royal Society of London and the National Academy of Sciences in the US stressed that "the human genome itself must be freely available to all humankind." The Pope says, "Because it is a gift, life can never be regarded as a possession or as private property." And last year it was reported that GE canola, corn and soy were found growing near ports in Japan, presumably as a result of spillage from trucks. The GE potatoes and GE corn just mentioned are meant to reduce the need for pesticide. for example, use a potent cocktail of different chemicals, including 2-4,D and, it is thought, Paraquat. Scientists are thinking about genetically engineering human genes into the brains of mice. The biotechnology industry claims that genetic engineering is just like traditional breeding, i.e., GE plants are substantially equivalent to non-GE plants and, therefore, that they do not need any extra regulation.There are indications that they may not be safe. An English scientist reported that rats fed GE potatoes developed cancerous tumors. Secret memoranda from the FDA reveal that the agency ignored warnings from its own senior scientists who pointed out that GE is risky. Monsanto president has been quoted as saying "Safety is the Government's responsibility." Thinking that this gene might be useful to prevent or treat HIV, the institute patented the gene, without telling the man and without including him among the patent owners. The World Medical Association declared patenting life forms unethical in 1998 - because such patenting is aimed at maximizing profits rather than making treatment available to patients. The WMA believes that doctors have an ethical obligation to share skills and knowledge with colleagues. Some people believe that the human race will become two tiered: a small number of superhumans presiding over the old humans who will be reduced to doing menial work for the supermen and superwomen. Scientists used to believe that each gene had only one function. But then they discovered that while a dog cell has 39 pairs of chromosomes, a human cell has only 23 pairs. Scientists had thought thought that as humans are more complex and do more things, human cells would have more pairs of chromosomes. So scientists now believe a gene may have more than one function, i.e. may affect more than one trait; and multiple genes affect one trait. One strategy the proponents have come up with is the idea that GE food is needed to feed the hungry.The United Nations Food Programme reports that there is enough food produced worldwide to feed everyone one and a half times over.This means that 'inventors' in the US can claim what they have created as 'novel' even though the product may have been patented elsewhere.