The Cozy, Erroneous Chimera

Odium, jealousy, chauvinism, vengeance, and callousness are amongst mans most wretched qualities, but perhaps the megalodon of our shortcomings is greed. It’s been the root of voluminous tragedies throughout this epoch and is continuingly corrupting all aspects of society. At the dawn of a new century, greed has seeped its devouring fingers into the promising field of genetics. Gene patenting, which allows universities and pharmaceuticals to claim exclusive rights to RNA strands, like an inventor would a design, is the consequence of avariciousness in science.

Just as an author cannot duplicate a published novel, geneticists cannot research patented genetic codes. Diseases such as Hepatitis C, haemophilus influenza, SARS, and HIV are all patented. How then can doctors prescribe quality medicines to unique individuals? They can’t. Prescription medicine is a shot in the dark because gene patenting makes it criminal to perform genetic tests on patients to discover the medications effectiveness unless a heavy royalty is paid to the genes owner.

Since the Supreme Court decision of Diamond Vs. Chakrabarty in 1980 patenting life and using life for selfish commercial purposes was legalized. The 13th amendment is a cozy, erroneous illusion. More than 4,000 of your genes are patented and owned by bio-firms. More than 20% of your tissues, from birth onwards, are not your property. Genetic patenting is another testament to the platitude “truth is scarier than fiction.” It poises the threat of superseding our ethics, appropriating our wealth, and, ultimately, betraying you or a loved one to the grave.