Swine Flu, Patented??

Teki187 · 13 Sep 2009 at 11:10

New York : According to Dr T Ott the Swine Flu patent is owned by none other than Medimmune who stands to profit around $151 million dollars from US taxpayers.

Source

Just wondering, if the WHO claim it mutated naturally, how can a company patent it?

Not a conspiracy, just wondering can you patent something like that?

Jokester · 13 Sep 2009 at 11:12

Swine Flu virus has existed for years, it'll depend on the wording of the patent whether it also covers mutations of the virus.

SlyReaper · 13 Sep 2009 at 11:19

I thought you could only patent something you invented? Are they saying that swine flu was deliberately engineered? That ought to set a few conspiracy theories going.

Teki187 · 13 Sep 2009 at 11:21

SlyReaper said:
I thought you could only patent something you invented? Are they saying that swine flu was deliberately engineered? That ought to set a few conspiracy theories going.

Thats for another thread mate, just wondering if its possible to do something like that.

Andr3w · 13 Sep 2009 at 11:21

SlyReaper said:
I thought you could only patent something you invented?

Same here?

SlyReaper · 13 Sep 2009 at 11:23

Teki187 said:
Thats for another thread mate, just wondering if its possible to do something like that.

I very much doubt it. Scientists are getting to the stage where they can muck about with bacteria to make them do funky things, but viruses are much much smaller.

CliffyBiro · 13 Sep 2009 at 11:26

Well, isn't it possible for other companies to steal your idea if you haven't patented it? Therefore you can patent something you haven't invented?

SlyReaper · 13 Sep 2009 at 11:41

skippi90 said:
Well, isn't it possible for other companies to steal your idea if you haven't patented it? Therefore you can patent something you haven't invented?

It still has to be something someone has invented. It has to be a deliberate human creation.

CliffyBiro · 13 Sep 2009 at 11:42

SlyReaper said:
It still has to be something someone has invented. It has to be a deliberate human creation.

That's what I thought too. Was just adressing the point that you had to be the inventor.

Jokester · 13 Sep 2009 at 11:56

No, you can patent genetic discoveries as well now, it's to help encourage development of gene therapies. I would imagine this company sequenced the swine flu genome or something.

Jokester · 13 Sep 2009 at 12:03

Having had a look at the patent it just seems to be a patent for a generic flu treatment, seems like that website is twisting the truth to fit it's own agenda.

Meridian · 13 Sep 2009 at 12:52

Jokester said:
Having had a look at the patent it just seems to be a patent for a generic flu treatment, seems like that website is twisting the truth to fit it's own agenda.

Surely not?

M

oli collett · 13 Sep 2009 at 14:32

Oh my word, that website is gold:
http://www.fightbackh1n1.com/2009/08/h1n1-swine-flu-cure-by-ayurveda-and.html

H1N1 Swine flu prevention medicine :

To prevent swine flu virus in the initial stages the respiratory system needs to be strong, to make it strong people should apply mustard oil and sesame oil inside there nostrils thrice a day and swallow six to eight Tulsi or Basil leaves with water in a day.

hahahahahahahahaha

Is it satire?

Nitefly · 13 Sep 2009 at 14:37

You can patent DNA segments IIRC for commercial use. Otherwise it would be impossible to control the rights regarding the usage of restriction enzymes etc.

The link is probably very misleading since the patenting of DNA and related organic products are a fairly standard commercial practice.

Berserker · 13 Sep 2009 at 14:38

oli collett said:
Is it satire?

Yes! But the joke may be on them.

Amp34 · 13 Sep 2009 at 16:00

skippi90 said:
Well, isn't it possible for other companies to steal your idea if you haven't patented it? Therefore you can patent something you haven't invented?

In that case i'm going to patent "tree", "gold" and "diamond", if anyone wants to use/collect one they will have to give a percentage to me...

DominicStar · 13 Sep 2009 at 17:27

American companies especially have painted plenty of coffees and several hundred wheats and grains etc used in key staple foods in places like India. Nothing amazes anymore.

Nitefly · 13 Sep 2009 at 17:34

DominicStar said:
American companies especially have painted plenty of coffees and several hundred wheats and grains etc used in key staple foods in places like India. Nothing amazes anymore.

Well if you have spent millions (perhaps billions) using sequencing and synteny to discover which extant crop vareties are the most suitable for cross breeding to due cumulative phenotypes, and have subsequently identified and isolated plants which give that desired pheotype, I would feel pretty peeved in letting everybody use that commercial crop for free.

Crop breeding requires extensive genetic analysis and is very expensive.