Patenting of Genes, Plants, and Animals

Author(s):  
Philip W. Grubb ◽  
Peter R. Thomsen ◽  
Tom Hoxie ◽  
Gordon Wright

This chapter considers the law governing the patentability of human genes, plants, and animals. Here one can no longer stay at the objective level of scientific findings and patent laws, but must consider the broader issues of ethics, social policy, and politics. Many persons, for different reasons, are opposed to the granting of patents for living organisms; the same persons believe that someone who patents a human gene somehow acquires control of human life, or even of an individual from whose tissue the gene was isolated. Where the invention can be useful in the diagnosis or treatment of disease, the majority of the public may accept the need for such patents, but opposition to genetic modification of food crops and to patents on the resulting transgenic plants is more widespread.

2005 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Janet Bainbridge

The use of genetic modification (GM) technologies to modify food crops provides one of the most hotly debated and often discussed applications of science. As the science develops, new generations of GM crops will be produced and current consumer views might change. This brief paper discusses mechanisms by which the complexity of decision-making at the regulatory level might be better understood by the public and hence provide tools for individuals to inform their own views and purchasing choices.


Author(s):  
Friedrich Vogel ◽  
Reinhard Grunwald
Keyword(s):  

Author(s):  
Lyubov Semiv

The scientific hypothesis about the influence of the components of the informational environment on the expansion of human development is tested. The trends in the Ukrainian information space on the level of implementation of informational technology in human life are revealed. The sample survey about living conditions of households in Ukraine in general and the oblasts of the Carpathian region, in particular, is conducted. The ways of use of Internet services by households for involvement of the population in various spheres of public activity and their influence on human development of the oblasts of the Carpathian region are analyzed. The analysis showed a significant reduction in the share of households by objectives: education and training (formal education in school and higher education, distance education, including online activities); software download. The search for information related to health issues and interaction with public authorities has great potential for human development. The paper concludes that the population of the Carpathian region is insufficiently involved in the use of Internet services. Based on the analysis of indicators of the Global Competitiveness Index, the problems in the field of expanding human development opportunities in Ukraine are described. There is mainly a downward trend in the development of areas involved in expanding human development opportunities in the transition to the information economy - education, health, labor, science and innovation. Relevant guidelines for the implementation of state social policy in this area are identified. Social policy as a direction of state regulation of the economy requires a transition from mostly passive to active and effective state social policy. It is necessary to update the mechanisms for conducting active social policy at the level of the state, various administrative, public organizations, and enterprises. Social policy must be closely linked with the implementation of internal reforms in the country (education, health, pensions, taxes and wages, etc.). Social policy measures should be coordinated with measures of other types of state policy - migration, the formation and development of the middle class, the policy of investing in human capital.


Author(s):  
N. Thyagaraju

The present seminar paper mainly highlight  the concept of  water pollution, causes of water pollution,  Its Effects, Elements of  pollutants, Methods  used to prevent the water pollution in environment  and the mandatory initiatives taken by the concerned authorities for prevention of  water pollution. Water   is essential for survival of all living organisms on the earth. Thus for human beings and plants to survive on land, water should be easily accessible. The term “Pollution” is generally refers to addition of any foreign body either living or non – living or deletion of anything that naturally exists. The basic Sources of Water pollution causes due to Culmination into lakes, rivers, ponds, seas, oceans etc. Domestic drainage and sanitary waste, Industrial drainage and sewage, Industrial waste from factories, Dumping of domestic garbage, Immersion of Idols made of plaster of Paris, Excess use of Insecticides , pesticides, fungicides, Chemical fertilizers, Soil erosion during heavy rains and floods, Natural disasters, tsunami etc. General pollutants  which are also caused for water pollution  which include Organic, Inorganic, and Biological entities, Insecticides, Pesticides, Disinfectants ,Detergents, Industrial solvents, Acids, Ammonia fertilizers, heavy metals, Harmful bacteria, Virus, Micro –Organisms and worms, Toxic chemicals. Agricultural lands become infertile and thereby production also drops, Spread of epidemic diseases like Cholera, Dysentery, Typhoid, Diarrhea, Hepatitis, Jaundice etc. The  basic responsibility of the Government, NGOs, National Pioneer scientific Research Institutions may conduct  research oriented programs on control of water pollution by create  awareness among the public through mass media and Environmental Education on recycling units,  and  water treatment plants must be established both at domestic levels and Industry levels, Every citizen must feel responsible to control water pollution. There have been many water pollution prevention acts that have been set up by the governments of the world. But these are not enough for permanent water pollution solutions. Each of us needs to take up the responsibility and do something at an everyday at individual level. Otherwise we can’t survive in a society forever in a future. 


Author(s):  
Sigurd Hverven ◽  
Thomas Netland

AbstractThis article discusses Hans Jonas’ argument for teleology in living organisms, in light of recently raised concerns over enactivism’s “Jonasian turn.” Drawing on textual resources rarely discussed in contemporary enactivist literature on Jonas’ philosophy, we reconstruct five core ideas of his thinking: 1) That natural science’s rejection of teleology is methodological rather than ontological, and thus not a proof of its non-existence; 2) that denial of the reality of teleology amounts to a performative self-contradiction; 3) that the fact of evolution makes it implausible that only humans actualize purpose; 4) that the concept of metabolism delimits and gestures towards beings performing purposive activity; and 5) that concrete encounters with living organisms are indispensable for the judgment that they are purposive. Lastly, we draw attention to how Jonas’ understanding of teleology and inwardness in nonhuman life in terms of degrees of identity with human life poses a problem for his view. In this way, we hope to clarify what Jonas, as an important source of inspiration for the enactivist project, is proposing.


Author(s):  
Souvik Das

Abstract: The word ‘life’ is a mysterious word with a chart of attributes that have neither been completed nor has been agreed upon by the race of humans. Probably the proper definition of life is impossible to identify for humans (the proof for this claim is given later) but the handbook to the secret shall be updated till the end, thanks to the inquisitive attitude of humans. For this piece, we shall adopt the description from the professional medical community of today. Though this topic falls midway between science and philosophy, this project is strictly technical. To quote dictionary.com, Life is the condition that distinguishes organisms from inorganic objects and dead organisms, being manifested by growth through metabolism, reproduction and the power of adaptation to environment- through changes originating internally; cambridge.com teaches Life is the period between birth and death, or the experience or state of being alive; medicaldictionary.thefreedictionary.com states Life is the property or quality that distinguishes living organisms from dead organisms and inanimate matter, manifested in functions such as metabolism, growth, reproduction and response to stimuli or adaptation to the environment originating from within the organisms. There are several other definitions but to summarize, we can safely state that though the concept is somewhat vague, we could indeed point out some common principles. We shall, in this project, try to replicate the characteristics so as to attain life in medical terms. (The order does not base upon importance of the listed character since the characters, all of them are absolute essentials and cannot possibly be categorized as more or less important). 1) Metabolism 2) Growth 3) Adaptability 4) Birth 5) Death 6) Self-stimulated response to environment 7) Reproduction 8) Can sustain self without foreign intervention Keywords: artificial, life, intelligence, computer, programming, algorithm This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (15) ◽  
pp. 1098-1101
Author(s):  
Aditi Vinay Chandak ◽  
Surekha Dubey Godbole ◽  
Tanvi Rajesh Balwani ◽  
Tanuj Sunil Patil

Ecosystem, which consists of the physical environment and all the living organisms, on which we all depend, is declining rapidly because of its destruction caused by humans. It’s a two-way relationship between the humans and mother nature. If we destroy the natural environment around us, human life will be seriously affected, and the life of next generation will be endangered unless serious steps are taken. One such effect of human overexploitations has come in the form of coronavirus outbreak. Coronavirus, a contagious disease of 2019 known as Covid-19, is the latest swiftly spreading global infection. The aetiology of Covid-19 is different from SARS-CoV which has the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), but it has the same host receptor, human angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2). The novel coronavirus which is zoonotic (spreading from an animal to a human) and mainly found in the bats and pangolins is a single stranded ribonucleic acid virus of Coronaviridae family. 1 The typical structure of 2019-nCoV possessed ‘spike protein’ in the membrane envelope, also expressed various polyproteins, nucleoproteins and membrane protein. The S protein binds to the receptor cell of host to facilitate the entry of virus in the host. Currently four genera for coronavirus are found α-CoV, ßCoV, γ-CoV, δ-CoV. SARS-CoV first originated in Wuhan, China and has spread across the globe. World Health Organization (WHO) and public health emergency of international concern declared it as 2019 - 2020 pandemic disease.2 According to WHO report, (7th April 2020) update on this pandemic coronavirus disease, there have been more than 13,65,004 confirmed cases and 76,507 deaths across the world and these figures are rapidly increasing. Therefore, actions for proper recognition, management and its prevention must be prompted for relevant alleviation of its outspread.3 Health care professionals are mainly indulged in the national crises and are working diligently around-the-clock, small ratio of the health care workers have become affected and few died tragically. Dentists are most often the first ones to be affected because they work with patients in close proximity. On 15th March 2020, the New York Times published an article titled “The workers who face the greatest Coronavirus risk” described the dentists are highly exposed, than the paramedical staffs and general physicians, to the risk of novel coronavirus disease 19.4


2015 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 336-344
Author(s):  
Maria-Mihaela Antofie ◽  
Camelia Sand Sava

AbstractThe purpose of this article is to analyse political and regulatory frameworks for connecting education and environment authorities in order to reveal opportunities for introducing new activities based on living organisms into the biology curriculum. The article is also proposing a conceptual framework for capacity building based on the analysis of relevant results at the international level, regarding the experiential learning process. Based on the results of this analysis Romania has the capacity to implement new activities under the public curricula for biology in order to support the development of new skills for ensuring biodiversity conservation as a whole. Moreover, at least three native species, domesticated or wild, may become subjects for next activities development under the existing curricula.


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