Intellectual Property is an increasingly important and controversial aspect of scientific advance, and synthetic biology is perhaps the paradigmatic area illustrating the effects of this growing legal influence. When thinking about how teams could turn their ideas from iGEM projects into viable real-world solutions, we realized that intellectual property is a crucial area to address.
Our team has produced a report exploring how teams can approach this task and how iGEM intellectual property policy can make the transition easier.
We begin with a brief overview of current intellectual property law (specifically relevant to the UK) before progressing to look at the challenges this poses for the iGEM competition. A number of different approaches which iGEM might choose to adopt towards intellectual property are discussed and the pros and cons of each are assessed. We then asked a range of interested groups, including iGEM students, professionals, and the public, for their views before concluding with recommendations for addressing intellectual property concerns in iGEM. We offer our conclusions in the form of advice to students, to the iGEM foundation, and briefly explore how a change in the law could have consequences for iGEM. This advice is purely based on our own views and our research which we hope will make interesting food for thought - it is not professional legal advice and should not be relied on as such!
"Quote from EA about usefulness of our project/bioremediation/synthetic biology generally, the fact that it could actually help the problem etc…”
(British Environment Agency)
Our work with the Environment Agency, which inspired us to explore bioremediation as an option for dealing with the pressing environmental concern cause by chlorinated solvent pollution, brought home just how great an impact our own project might have on the environment. With this in mind, we decided to ask….
HOW CAN AN IGEM PROJECT CHANGE THE WORLD?
For the policy and practices element of the competition, our team has researched how iGEM projects grow from ideas into real world solutions. What are the challenges face teams who want to develop their projects beyond the jamboree? What can be done to help them realise the potential benefits of their ideas for society? And what should we be aiming to achieve by all this?
Our team identified five key considerations for teams to take into account. Follow the icons below to learn more!
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