gene patent

Cultural

The controversial legal practice of patenting a newly discovered gene. It allows unique segments of DNA, which perhaps code for a certain disease or a certain protein, to be owned by an individual or corporation.

Example Sentences

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Owning the gene patent is, for all intense and purposes, owning a monopoly on the gene itself.

From Forbes • Apr. 9, 2013

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023