From ScotLUG

Synthetic Biology and IPR

by Alistair Marshall, Edinburgh University

Edinburgh's iGEM Team page

Presentation slides can be found here: Open Office: odp, PDF

1930, Thursday July 5th 2007

at the Edinburgh Training and Conference Venue

Summary:

This may not sound much like Linux and open source code, however there are

many similarities. Genetic engineering is now at the stage where we can

manipulate individual bits of DNA, much like programing with 1s and 0s.

The possibilities are vast. Imagine planting a seed and coming back a

year later to see your dream house made out of a tree with excellent

insulation, heating and utilities already in place! And we are creating

simple machines today that perform useful work, so this is not a too

far-fetched outcome.

This emerging science is in a unique position of learning from the

computer open source revolution. The ability to program individual bits

of DNA is only a few years old and so new standards have to be made and

refined, new 'devices' are being produced and published in a public

registry. Intellectual Property decisions being made now and in the next few

years will have major effects on the science -- and everyday life -- in the

future.

• An overview of the basics of building microscopic wee beasties that perform work
• Practical examples of work done in Scotland and elsewhere
• Compare and contrast with Computer Science
• Summary of Intellectual Property Rights issues today
• Summary of options for the future, and fundamental questions