patenting life

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…lines, and even human cell lines. Contrary to the claims of patent lawyers, patenting retards progress in biomedical research. It introduces secrecy when what we need is openness. It slows the publication and sharing of important results, because once a result is reported publicly, it cannot be patented. And so researchers drawn into the web of the patent process do not report their results, even informally, until they have successfully passed through the expensive application .