In recent years the field of bioinformatics has emerged from the university research laboratory and entered the mainstream healthcare establishment. During this time there has been a rapid increase of legal developments affecting this dynamic field, from Supreme Court decisions radically altering the patentability of informatics inventions to major developments in privacy law both in Europe and the U.S. This edited book strives to offer the reader insight into some of the major legal trends and considerations applicable to these fields today.
"Databases containing the accumulated genomic data of the research community are growing exponentially. This book contains cutting-edge insights from scholars, bioethicists and legal practitioners who work at the ever-changing intersection of law and bioinformatics"--Page 4 of cover.
This unique volume presents AI in relation to ethical points of view in handling big data sets. Issues such as algorithmic biases, discrimination for specific patterns and privacy breaches may sometimes be skewed to affect research results so that certain fields to appear more appealing to funding agencies. The discussion on the ethics of AI is highly complex due to the involvement of many international stakeholders such as the UN, OECD, parliaments, industry groups, professional bodies, and individual companies. The issue of reliability is addressed including the emergence of synthetic life, 5G networks, intermingling of human artificial intelligence, nano-robots and cyber security tools. Features Discusses artificial intelligence and ethics, the challenges and opportunities Presents the issue of reliability in the emergence of synthetic life, 5G networks, intermingling of human artificial intelligence, nano-robots, and cyber security tools Ethical responsibility and reasoning for using AI in Big Data Addresses practicing medicine and ethical issues when applying artificial intelligence
Bioinformatics has ignited the imagination of scientists, entrepreneurs and the general public. At the meeting place of two fast growth disciplines, biology and computer science Bioinformatics is one of the cornerstones of the new biology. It is clearly pivotal to the translation of high throughput projects such the human genome project into useful knowledge. Yet despite all this attention, there is no consensus on what exactly is Bioinformatics. There are several canonical topics, such as gene structure prediction, protein functional classification or structure prediction. The present book explores new frontiers in bioinformatics, such as Glycomics or the computational modeling of genetic processes. We also discuss confounding factors that we find crucial to the development of the field, such as the ability to protect and restrict intellectual property in the field, or the challenges involved in educating bioinformatics users. Finally, we touch upon some fundamental questions, such as what information is and how it is captured in biological systems. By bringing to the readers such a broad spectrum of reviews, we hope to capture the vibrant spirit of this young science and to truly represent the fast pace with which it is still developing.
Dr Rimmer s book is a marvellous introduction to a crucial topic of our time. He writes engagingly, provocatively and always with good humour. A highly technical and complex area of law has been reduced to clear descriptions and searching analysis. Truly, this is an important book on an essential topic that will help define the ethics of a future that includes nothing less than the future of our species. From the foreword by the Hon Justice Michael Kirby AC CMG, the High Court of Australia . . . the author has done an excellent job by explaining the subject in an open and accessible manner. This book is a timely and very thought-provoking analysis of patent law and biotechnology. . . The book is a unique theoretical contribution to the controversial public debate over commercialization of biological inventions. . . there is an extensive bibliography. . . a valuable resource for further reading. The book will be of prime interest to lawyers and patent attorneys, scientists and researchers, business managers and technology transfer specialists. Journal of Intellectual Property Rights Rimmer s book is highly recommended for anyone interested in the issues and debate related to biological inventions, regardless of which side the reader is on. Stefan M. Miller, Journal of Commercial Biotechnology . . . this book gives an excellent account of the most celebrated biotechnology cases from three continents, and for this alone is to be thoroughly recommended. David Rogers, European Intellectual Property Review Rimmer has put a great deal of thought and effort into this series of chapters. For those looking at how to reform, direct and develop laws in relation to biotechnology, this book is brimming with ideas, suggestions and recommendations of what to do next. Rebecca Halford-Harrison, Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys . . . an excellent introduction to a wide range of legal thinking in an increasingly controversial and relevant area to humankind. Sharon Givoni, Australian Intellectual Property Law Bulletin Rimmer s new book is a timely and very thought-provoking analysis of patent law and biotechnology and asks a very serious question: can a 19th century patent system adequately deal with a 21st century industry? Kate McDonald, Australian Life Scientist This book documents and evaluates the dramatic expansion of intellectual property law to accommodate various forms of biotechnology from micro-organisms, plants, and animals to human genes and stem cells. It makes a unique theoretical contribution to the controversial public debate over the commercialization of biological inventions. The author also considers the contradictions between the Supreme Court of Canada rulings in respect of the Harvard oncomouse, and genetically modified canola. He explores law, policy, and practice in both Australia and New Zealand in respect to gene patents and non-coding DNA. This study charts the rebellion against the European Union Biotechnology Directive particularly in respect of Myriad Genetics BRCA1 and BRCA2 patents, and stem cell patent applications. The book also considers whether patent law will accommodate frontier technologies such as bioinformatics, haplotype mapping, proteomics, pharmacogenomics, and nanotechnology. Intellectual Property and Biotechnology will be of prime interest to lawyers and patent attorneys, scientists and researchers, business managers and technology transfer specialists.
Law, Human Agency and Autonomic Computing interrogates the legal implications of the notion and experience of human agency implied by the emerging paradigm of autonomic computing, and the socio-technical infrastructures it supports. The development of autonomic computing and ambient intelligence – self-governing systems – challenge traditional philosophical conceptions of human self-constitution and agency, with significant consequences for the theory and practice of constitutional self-government. Ideas of identity, subjectivity, agency, personhood, intentionality, and embodiment are all central to the functioning of modern legal systems. But once artificial entities become more autonomic, and less dependent on deliberate human intervention, criteria like agency, intentionality and self-determination, become too fragile to serve as defining criteria for human subjectivity, personality or identity, and for characterizing the processes through which individual citizens become moral and legal subjects. Are autonomic – yet artificial – systems shrinking the distance between (acting) subjects and (acted upon) objects? How ‘distinctively human’ will agency be in a world of autonomic computing? Or, alternatively, does autonomic computing merely disclose that we were never, in this sense, ‘human’ anyway? A dialogue between philosophers of technology and philosophers of law, this book addresses these questions, as it takes up the unprecedented opportunity that autonomic computing and ambient intelligence offer for a reassessment of the most basic concepts of law.
Both law and economics and intellectual property law have expanded dramatically in tandem over recent decades. This field-defining two-volume Handbook, featuring the leading legal, empirical, and law and economics scholars studying intellectual property rights, provides wide-ranging and in-depth analysis both of the economic theory underpinning intellectual property law, and the use of analytical methods to study it.
This book provides a comprehensive overview of the concepts and approaches used for sequence, structure, and phylogenetic analysis. Starting with an introduction to the subject and intellectual property protection for bioinformatics, it guides readers through the latest sequencing technologies, sequence analysis, genomic variations, metagenomics, epigenomics, molecular evolution and phylogenetics, structural bioinformatics, protein folding, structure analysis and validation, drug discovery, reverse vaccinology, machine learning, application of R programming in biological data analysis, and the use of Linux in handling large data files.
This book addresses Synthetic Biology (SynBio), a new and promising biotechnology that has attracted much interest from both a scientific and a policy perspective. Yet, questions concerning the patentability of SynBio inventions have not been examined in detail so far; as a result, it remains unclear whether these inventions are patentable on the basis of current norms and case law. The book addresses this question, focusing especially on the subject matter’s eligibility and moral criteria. It provides an overview of the legislation and decisions applicable to SynBio patents and examines this new technology in view of the ongoing debate over the patentability of biotechnologies in general. The legal analysis is complemented by the practical examination of several patent applications submitted to the European and US patent offices (EPO and USPTO), and by an assessment of the patent issues that are likely to be raised by future SynBio developments.
One of the leading IP law journals in the world presents it second special symposium issue to go ebook (the 2010 issue, available as well, centered on the "green" movement). This edition of John Marshall RIPL is the new 2011 Special Issue, with seven cutting-edge articles from recognized lawyers and scholars of IP law and biotech/health sciences. Each spring, RIPL produces a symposium law review issue. In this important contribution, RIPL presents very current articles on emerging biotech research and industries, and their promotion through IP law, including patents and trademarks. Topics include encouraging biotech innovation through patent protection, the risks and advantages of DIY scientists, plain packaging of tobacco, research funding of small projects, the materiality doctrine for inequitable conduct, patenting genetic materials, EU law on patent infringement, and health care reform's effect on drug research. The volume is also useful and accessible to non-lawyers interested in these issues and the way they are affected by legal and policy decisions.
