general commentaries

Michael Crichton on the Future and the Fiction of Biotechnology

Dawn M. Willow, J.D.
Legal Fellow
Institute on Biotechnology & the Human Future and the Center on Nanotechnology & Society at Chicago-Kent College of Law/Illinois Institute of Technology

On September 14, the Institute on Biotechnology and the Human Future sponsored a congressional briefing on Capitol Hill during which Jurassic Park author, Michael Crichton, M.D., spoke about science policy and the future of biotechnology. While his prolific novels often forecast the social impacts associated with futuristic technologies, Crichton urged law makers to stick to legislating actual biotechnology applications rather than preemptively addressing technologies that are, at present, merely science fiction.

To that end, he focused his message on gene patents, arguing that genetic and biological materials do not merit patenting because they are products of nature, and therefore, violate the fundamental test for patentability. Although genetic tests and drugs that target genes may be patentable, the genes, themselves, are products of nature (excluding, of course, genes that have been de novo created by modifying genetic material).

Crichton contended that gene patents provide an undeserved monopoly because there is no opportunity to invent another utility for "a product of nature" and such patents inhibit research. Furthermore, he stated that it is against public policy to allow anyone to own a disease by acquiring a gene patent; for example, he expressed incredulity at "the fact that someone owns the gene for insulin" as such property rights hinder medical developments and access to medications. Alarmingly, 35,000 genes in the human genome have been patented.

Crichton called for revised legislation that clarifies language relating to the conceptions of human tissue and how these tissues may be lawfully be used. For instance, Crichton highlighted the need for explicit laws on informed consent that are consistent with the federal guidelines on human subjects research, which allow individuals to donate tissues for a specified and limited purpose.

Additionally, Crichton cautioned against banning projected technologies, such as cloning, stating: "Bans jump the gun." He reasoned that bans are virtually unenforceable and that scientists will simply develop the prohibited technology in a jurisdiction lacking such a prohibition. Moreover, he argued that broad bans often promote extremism rather than build consensus.

In closing, Crichton challenged those present to identify mechanisms that government can institute to enable rules to evolve along with the subject matter they govern.

Dawn M. Willow, J.D., is a legal fellow at the Institute on Biotechnology and the Human Future and the Center on Nanotechnology and Society at Chicago-Kent College of Law/Illinois Institute of Technology. During the Spring 2006 Legislative Session, she served as Legislative Counsel, Office of the Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives.