The CRISPR Patent Battle: Who Will be "Cut" Out of Patent Rights to One of the Greatest Scientific Discoveries of Our Generation?

Abstract

At the center of the United States patent system lies an intricate balance between creating monetary incentives that lead to creation, invention, and discovery, and impeding the flow of the very information that might permit invention. One such invention, that of a novel gene-editing technology called CRISPR-Cas9, has been called one of the "greatest scientific discoveries in the last century." In simplest terms, the ability to edit genes (the basis of hereditary traits in living organisms made up of DNA) allows scientists to target a specific mutated gene sequence that leads to disease, cut that region out, and, if necessary, replace that sequence with a "healthy" version. CRISPR-Cas9 has already been applied in experiments to rid mice of Muscular dystrophy, block cells from HIV infection, and cure mice of rare liver disease.