The commercialization of human genetics: profits and problems.
Private-sector funding is becoming increasingly important to genetic scientists and clinicians, and the number of academic-industry collaborations is growing rapidly. Furthermore, genetics has become an important tool for the healthcare industry, as the genomes of humans and other organisms are mined for new diagnostic tests and drug leads. Potentially, this is a win-win situation: academic research gets a funding boost; industry benefits from academic research; and humankind benefits from the products of these liaisons. But these benefits do not come without cost. This article explores these costs and examines whether the commercialization of academic research is compromising academic freedom, progress in clinical research, and our attitudes to normal good health.
Caulfield
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Health Law Institute, Faculty of Law, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada. tcaulfld@ualberta.ca
D001294:Attitude to Health; D003132:Commerce; D003219:Confidentiality; D004992:Ethics, Medical; D005053:Eugenics; D005381:Financing, Organized; D005817:Genetic Counseling; D005818:Genetic Engineering / Q000191:economics; D036281:Genetic Research; D033142:Genetic Services; D005820:Genetic Testing / Q000191:economics; D005826:Genetics, Medical / Q000191:economics / Q000639:trends*; D015894:Genome, Human; D006801:Humans; D033181:Information Dissemination; D018973:Intellectual Property; D010330:Patents as Topic; D017149:Private Sector / Q000191:economics; D012109:Research Support as Topic; D018570:Risk Assessment; D014495:Universities / Q000191:economics