Access through your institution Buy or subscribe Sir I agree wholeheartedly with the analogies drawn between the advantages of open source and the genome projects by Russ, Aparicio and

Carlton1. However, I would go further than Alberts and Klug2,3 and suggest that it should never be possible to patent a gene. A gene is a pre-existing entity; it can be discovered, but not

invented. Of course a drug invented to exploit a gene, or a method using a particular gene for therapy, is a different matter. These are clearly inventions. This is a preview of subscription

content, access via your institution ACCESS OPTIONS Access through your institution Subscribe to this journal Receive 51 print issues and online access $199.00 per year only $3.90 per issue

404, 809 (2000). Article  CAS  Google Scholar  * Alberts, B. & Klug, A. _Nature_ 404, 325 (2000). Article  Google Scholar  * Alberts, B. & Klug, A. _Nature_ 404, 542 (2000). Article

  CAS  Google Scholar  * Gavaghan, H. _ Nature_ 404, 684–686 ( 2000). Article  CAS  Google Scholar  Download references AUTHOR INFORMATION AUTHORS AND AFFILIATIONS * School of Animal and

Microbial Sciences, University of Reading, PO Box 228, Whiteknights, RG6 6AJ, Reading, UK Andrew C. R. Martin Authors * Andrew C. R. Martin View author publications You can also search for

this author inPubMed Google Scholar RIGHTS AND PERMISSIONS Reprints and permissions ABOUT THIS ARTICLE CITE THIS ARTICLE Martin, A. Model already exists for fair use of gene data. _Nature_

406, 933 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/35023192 Download citation * Issue Date: 31 August 2000 * DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/35023192 SHARE THIS ARTICLE Anyone you share the following

link with will be able to read this content: Get shareable link Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article. Copy to clipboard Provided by the Springer Nature

SharedIt content-sharing initiative