The ownership of genetic and biologic material is a contentious issue. Many human genes have been patented. For instance, there are recent supreme court rulings on this topic that we will discuss in a few weeks. What are your thoughts about research and patents – Should Henrietta Lacks’ family receive money for the HeLa cells? Should companies profit in general from genes or other biologic materials? If not, do you think it will impact companies’ willingness to do biomedical research? If yes, how could that impact healthcare?
