Genomics & Pharmacogenomics

Biography

Biography: Krishna Dronam Raju

Abstract

Gene therapy has consistently failed to achieve its therapeutic potential. However, Genomics is now making it increasingly possible to manipulate real-world DNA, leading to the treatment of hereditary and acquired genetic disease. This is the beginning of a new era of genetic manipulation which will have clinically beneficial applications. However, intellectual property issues continue to plague the definition of gene and gene therapy . Critics have pointed out that gene patents fail to meet the criteria of intellectual property. Genes are naturally occurring, and while much intellectual effort may have gone into discovering them within the DNA sequence, discovery is not the same as invention. The location of a gene never met the criterion for being non-obvious. DNA patenting has proven to be a very active area, however, at least a fifth of the human genome is subject to patent claims.