Shobita Parthasarathy's opinion piece, "Gene Patents and Democracy," was posted to Nature.com's online community for breaking news on science research and policy, "The Great Beyond".
Parthasarathy penned the piece in advance of the April 4 U.S. Court of Appeals review of a case that challenges the patentability of human genes. She argues for a "more democratically engaged patent system" that encourages and enables citizen participation as a means of enhancing the social benefits of innovation.
Partharathy writes, "We must encourage insiders to hold the doors firmly open, recognizing the value that average citizens can bring to the patent system and ultimately, to the innovation process."
[Read Parthasarathy's post.]