In what could presage a battle of intellectual property, Rudolf Jaenisch of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge and Konrad Hochedlinger of Massachusetts General Hospital Boston will be the awarding of a patent on a technique to transform mammalian cells in adult stem cells that can become, in principle, any type of cell in the body. The approach reprogramming somatic cells-promises to be a boon for regenerative medicine. But other groups have similar claims pending patents, and some researchers fear that a tangle of patent could delay medical applications.
The patent pending award was announced on February 4 by the fate Therapeutics, a company based in San Diego that Jaenisch and others founded in 07. The application in November 03 Explains a possible approach reprogramming of somatic cells. "With priority dates beginning and territory reached, the Jaenisch portfolio is great," Paul Grayson, president of Destin Therapeutics, said in a press release. Fate "account on this patent raise funds, so they will tirelessly" to push their claims, said stem cell researcher Jeanne Loring of Scripps Research Institute in San Diego. "It is the nature of the biotechnology company."
But the application does not contain experimental results. In 06, Shinya Yamanaka, Kyoto University reported for the first time creation of pluripotent stem cells (iPS) what he called induced activation of mouse skin cells to revert to an undifferentiated state of pluripotency. in 07, Yamanaka and James Thomson of the University of Wisconsin, Madison, simultaneously duplicated the feat using human cells. in response to a question of Science , Kyoto University Center for iPS cell of Research and Application, head Yamanaka, published a statement which reads in part: "Our university has filed the first patent application in the world associated with iPS [cell] technology and is now trying to acquire patent rights in many countries, including the US We believe that Fate Therapeutics patent will not affect our patent applications. ''
in an email to science Fate Therapeutics spokeswoman Jessica Yingling wrote that the company did not disclose the conditions for a possible license its patent. "But we want to reinforce that we do not want to impede progress, but working with all stakeholders to stimulate innovation and translation of iPS cell technology to new tools for industry and therapies for patients in the need. "
Since Yamanaka's breakthrough, dozens of groups have reported other means reprogramming cells as well as techniques to control the differentiation of stem cells into neurons, cardiovascular cells and other tissues of interest for regenerative medicine. The basic patent office data of the United States has more than 0 applications that mention the reprogramming of somatic cells. "I think cross-licensing and, hopefully, some patent owners will insist as part of their agreements that patents are widely, cheaply, and nonexclusive licensed," says Loring.
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