How The CRISPR Patent Fight Could Shape The Future Of Genetic Engineering
On Tuesday, the two feuding parties of the CRISPR gene editing patent fight entered the boxing ring: Attorneys for each side made oral arguments before a three-judge panel, in a case that not only puts billions of potential dollars at stake, but could define the future of genetic engineering.
The dispute pits two groups of scientists against each other. In 2014, the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT were awarded 13 patents for CRISPR, a genetic engineering breakthrough that brings the dream of fixing everything from deadly disease to environmental catastrophe into reach, simply by cutting and pasting bits of DNA. Scientists at UC Berkeley, however, also claim credit for some of CRISPR’s foundational work. At the centre of this saga is sexism, scandal and a crusade for credit for one of the most important scientific discoveries of this century.
