Catalogue Search | MBRL
Are you sure you want to remove the book from the shelf?
{{itemTitle}}
127
result(s) for
"Jackson, Myles W"
Sort by:
The Genealogy of a Gene
InThe Genealogy of a Gene, Myles Jackson uses the story of the CCR5 gene to investigate the interrelationships among science, technology, and society. Mapping the varied \"genealogy\" of CCR5 -- intellectual property, natural selection, Big and Small Pharma, human diversity studies, personalized medicine, ancestry studies, and race and genomics -- Jackson links a myriad of diverse topics. The history of CCR5 from the 1990s to the present offers a vivid illustration of how intellectual property law has changed the conduct and content of scientific knowledge, and the social, political, and ethical implications of such a transformation. The CCR5 gene began as a small sequence of DNA, became a patented product of a corporation, and then, when it was found to be an AIDS virus co-receptor with a key role in the immune system, it became part of the biomedical research world -- and a potential moneymaker for the pharmaceutical industry. When it was further discovered that a mutation of the gene found in certain populations conferred near-immunity to the AIDS virus, questions about race and genetics arose. Jackson describes these developments in the context of larger issues, including the rise of \"biocapitalism,\" the patentability of products of nature, the difference between U.S. and European patenting approaches, and the relevance of race and ethnicity to medical research.
eBook
The Biology of Race: Searching for No Overlap
With the rise of molecular genetics and the cornucopia of techniques it provides, a number of biomedical researchers in both the public and private sectors have turned to the human genome to search for variations among the world’s populations, with the purpose of tracing human evolution and migration patterns and predicting genetic disorders. The human genome also offers insight into an individual’s genealogy, which has never before been charted with such precision. Whereas 18th- and 19th-century scholars fetishized external characteristics in order to classify humans, more recent scholars have turned to the internal sequence of the genome. But how does one define populations? Should they be based on race? Can one speak of race at the molecular level? This essay explores the history of the biology of race with a view to compare and contrast modern molecular biological studies with the more pernicious actions of early-20th-century eugenicists. The key linking the two practices is the search for biological entities that do not overlap among the races. A critical difference is that modern studies use molecular biology to include previously excluded populations in the treatment of certain diseases. While the intentions are quite different, a number of scholars feel that genetic essentialism might be the end result.
Journal Article
Epilogue
On a cool, cloudy morning in early February 2010, I journeyed to lower Manhattan, the site of the Southern District Court of New York. The court guards told me that it was an atypically busy day. I stood on line as scores of people went through the security checkpoint and headed for courtroom 18C. By the time I arrived at the courtroom, slightly before 10 a.m., it was packed with reporters, scientists, biotech representatives, and lawyers. I wondered, “What in the world am I, a historian (albeit of science), doing here?” Everyone in the courtroom was waiting for Judge Robert
Book Chapter
The European Response to the CCR5 Patent
Thus far I have told the American story of the CCR5 patent. It possesses a European lineage, as well. In chapter 2, it was noted that the Belgian company Euroscreen is the licensing agent for the CCR5 patent portfolio. Patent holders generally apply for patents in (at least) the three major markets—the United States, Europe, and Japan. Euroscreen filed its two European patents on February 28, 1997, both with priority dates of March 1, 1996. The first patent (EP 0883687) was granted for the CCR5 receptor, derivatives thereof, and their uses and had a European Patent Bulletin publication date
Book Chapter
Gene Patenting and the Product-of-Nature Doctrine
The CCR5 patent has become emblematic of the ways that intellectual property law has changed the conduct and content of scientific knowledge and the social, political, and ethical implications of such a metamorphosis. The resolution of these issues signaled the willingness of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to assist the biotech sector. This chapter and the next two continue to trace theCCR5gene’s intellectual property lineage. As a historian, I am wary of teleological histories. The astute reader will quickly identify a tension, particularly evident in this and the next chapter, between the teleology of gene patenting as
Book Chapter
Race, Place, and Pathogens
TheCCR5-Δ32allele provides some of the most fascinating stories of theCCR5gene. It has become a focal point in the debate about allele frequencies and natural selection. Could those who are immune to AIDS have ancestors who were immune to the bubonic plague, smallpox, or staphylococcus infection? How can historians collaborate with population geneticists and demographers to provide a richer history of medicine and biology and a clearer picture of the forces of natural selection? A history of theCCR5-Δ32allele is informative because it typifies how molecular biologists, population geneticists, biomedical researchers, and evolutionary biologists study alleles
Book Chapter
The CCR5 Patent(s)
Although gene patents had been awarded for nearly a decade before its existence, the Human Genome Project (HGP) (1990 to 2003) brought human genes and intellectual property issues to the fore. An international collaboration that was started and led by the United States, the HGP had an ambitious goal—to sequence the entire human genome, which is made up of 3 billion base pairs of DNA.¹ Planning started in 1984 with the work of Charles DeLisi, a physicist and director of the Office Health and Environment at the Department of Energy, and Robert Sinsheimer, a Caltech molecular biologist and chancellor
Book Chapter
The CCR5 Patent and Intellectual Property Law
The previous chapter analyzes the patentability of natural products, which is relevant to all gene patents. The lack of legal clarity described in that chapter is also the theme of this one. The CCR5 patent is particularly fascinating because it also raises a number of concerns with other aspects of intellectual property law. Using the CCR5 patent as a guide, this chapter analyzes how various legal precedents based on chemistry have proven to be inappropriate. Gene patents are controversial not simply because of their eligibility for intellectual property protection. This patent is particularly interesting because it occurred at a time
Book Chapter