The Contested Futures of Biobanks and Intellectual Property

Abstract

Breakthrough discoveries in life sciences technologies, coupled with continuing global growth in biobanks, are contributing to a core infrastructure for translational research in population genomics. At the same time, traditional intellectual property discourse, which stresses innovation as a social good and limited property rights as the proper function of law, is challenging, and being challenged by, large-scale population-based biobanks and their publicly-engaged governance structures. By discussing how several particular aspects of biobank discourse differ from current intellectual property discourse (i.e. democratic engagement and governance policy, genetic sequence databases, and open data sharing), the authors show how this chasm may cause a recalibration of intellectual property law, particularly patent law.

Keywords: biobanks, discourse, emerging technology, genetics, intellectual property, patent law