A small non-profit biotech research organisation in Australia is set to change the biotech industry. CAMBIA has found a new way of transferring genetic material to plants.
It bypasses the heavily-patented agrobacterium transformation (AT) method. Researchers have placed this tool in the public sphere by distributing it under an open source licence called Biological Initiative for Open Source (BIOS).
Any researcher or company can use the technology but is legally obliged to make new discoveries based on its use available to others. The patent-driven monopolistic biotech must rethink its business strategies.
Sharing information is hardly a standard practice in biotech industry. Richard Jefferson, head of CAMBIA, says the plethora of patents surrounding the AT method made it difficult for researchers to develop countries to experiment in key areas such as agriculture.
The developing world could only rely on products major patent holders sold. Sharing information, Jefferson says, empowers scientists across the world to create products more suitable for their societies. This is the basis of the BIOS initiative.
http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=24&theme=&usrsess=1&id=74551
It bypasses the heavily-patented agrobacterium transformation (AT) method. Researchers have placed this tool in the public sphere by distributing it under an open source licence called Biological Initiative for Open Source (BIOS).
Any researcher or company can use the technology but is legally obliged to make new discoveries based on its use available to others. The patent-driven monopolistic biotech must rethink its business strategies.
Sharing information is hardly a standard practice in biotech industry. Richard Jefferson, head of CAMBIA, says the plethora of patents surrounding the AT method made it difficult for researchers to develop countries to experiment in key areas such as agriculture.
The developing world could only rely on products major patent holders sold. Sharing information, Jefferson says, empowers scientists across the world to create products more suitable for their societies. This is the basis of the BIOS initiative.
http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=24&theme=&usrsess=1&id=74551
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