I'm assured by some of my biology-oriented colleagues that such things are patented all the time, and there is no 101 problem. (Dupont received its famous patent on the Oncomouse--a transgenic rodent altered to have increased susceptibility to cancer--in 1988.) Nevertheless, I can't help but get a crazy image in my head whenever I read the title and claims of this patent that issued on Tuesday:
U.S. Patent No. 7,524,491 Non-human animals with human-glial chimeric brains Filed: January 16, 2008 Assignee: University of Rochester 1. A non-human mammal with at least 30% of all its glial cells in its corpus callosum being human glial cells and/or at least 5% of all its glial cells in the white matter of its brain and/or brain stem being human glial cells. |
Two prosecution questions: 1) Only 15 months from filing to issuance, and no Accelerated Examination. Why can't we see that in the "digital arts?" 2) I'm not used to the "and/or" language getting past the examiners, but I suppose it is not a 112 problem if there's no resulting ambiguity.
By the way, I hear that the donor for those human glial cells was a woman. I can't quite recall her name... Abby something.
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