1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910459950603321

Autore

Jackson Myles W.

Titolo

The genealogy of a gene : patents, HIV/AIDS, and race / / Myles W. Jackson

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Cambridge, Massachusetts ; ; London, England : , : The MIT Press, , 2015

©2015

ISBN

0-262-32720-1

0-262-53378-2

0-262-32719-8

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (xii, 336 pages) : illustrations (black and white)

Collana

Transformations: Studies in the History of Science and Technology

Disciplina

362.19697/920072

Soggetti

AIDS (Disease)

Genes

Genetic genealogy

HIV (Viruses)

Electronic books.

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

The CCR5 story -- The CCR5 patent(s) -- Gene patenting and the product-of-nature doctrine -- CCR5 and intellectual property law -- The European response to the CCR5 patent -- CCR5 and HIV/AIDS diagnostics and therapeutics -- Race, place, and pathogens -- Race, difference, and genes -- Epilogue: the end of an error?

Sommario/riassunto

In The Genealogy of a Gene, Myles Jackson uses the story of the CCR5 gene to investigate the interrelationships among science, technology, and society. Mapping the varied "genealogy" of CCR5 -- intellectual property, natural selection, Big and Small Pharma, human diversity studies, personalized medicine, ancestry studies, and race and genomics -- Jackson links a myriad of diverse topics. The history of CCR5 from the 1990's to the present offers a vivid illustration of how intellectual property law has changed the conduct and content of scientific knowledge, and the social, political, and ethical implications of such a transformation. The CCR5 gene began as a small sequence of



DNA, became a patented product of a corporation, and then, when it was found to be an AIDS virus co-receptor with a key role in the immune system, it became part of the biomedical research world -- and a potential moneymaker for the pharmaceutical industry. When it was further discovered that a mutation of the gene found in certain populations conferred near-immunity to the AIDS virus, questions about race and genetics arose. Jackson describes these developments in the context of larger issues, including the rise of "biocapitalism," the patentability of products of nature, the difference between U.S. and European patenting approaches, and the relevance of race and ethnicity to medical research.