Traduction de «gêne au point d'injection » (Français → Anglais) :

Research will focus on: developing bioinformatic tools and resources for data storage, mining and processing; developing computational biology approaches for in silico prediction of gene function and for the simulation of complex regulatory networks.

AQ. whereas mapping of the human genome, completed during the past year by the American company Celera Genomics and the Human Genome Project group, has prompted intense debate in the Union on the question of whether human genes should be patentable; whereas genome sequencing has sparked off an unprecedented race to the imminently expected ‘genetic loot’; whereas the ability to isolate, identify, and recombine genes makes it possible for the first time to tap a common stock of genes as a source of raw materials, the economic exploitation of which would be encouraged precisely by the possible award of patents,

In view of the rapid advances in the field of biotechnology, the extent of patent protection for genes or gene sequences could be a matter for review in the context of the reports provided for in Article 16(c) of the Directive, with a view to assessing whether various fields of patent protection involving elements isolated or otherwise produced from the human body could be accepted.

Although it may well be true that the results could have been better in practical terms – as other Members have stressed – I would like to quote a politician who is not from my own culture but who is known to many in this Chamber: “The longest journey begins with a single step!” And without a doubt, a completely new way of working was established in Genoa compared to that adopted for all the other G8 summits.

The Justice and Home Affairs Council discussed these issues in late July, and the events at Genoa show how urgent it now is to take action.

Since 1996, the Group of Advisers on the Ethical Implications of Biotechnology has considered that the issue of a patent is only acceptable if the identification of the function attached to the gene or gene sequence clears the way for new possibilities such as the manufacture of a new medicinal product, and if the application giving rise to a patent is sufficiently specific and adequately identified (point 2.5 of the opinion).