Arguments in Favour of Patentability of Biotechnology
There are a number of arguments raised in favour of the development and patentability of genetically modified organisms. These include the following:
- Biotechnology may increase human welfare. Biotechnological inventions have the potential to provide increased and more reliable food harvests for the world's population, and to provide alternative means of producing goods that will use less resources.
- Biotechnology contributes to life saving medical treatments. Advances in biotechnology have enabled the development and increasing availability of life saving medication and contributed towards the eradication of disease.
- Biotechnology may have positive environmental effects. Biotechnological advances may result in production processes and products that are less polluting and use less resources. There is also the potential to clean up existing pollution and to improve waste management through biotechnological processes.
- Biotechnology already contributes to traditional breeding practices through selective breeding and the manipulation of animal genes. It can be argued that genetically modifying organisms is only a more direct way of achieving the results traditionally achieved through more accepted conventional breeding practices.
- Biotechnology may increase animal welfare. More effective animal treatments may be developed through biotechnology. Genetic modifications may also be more reliable than traditional breeding techniques and may result in less experimentation to achieve a desired result.
- Biotechnology contributes to the protection of biodiversity. Companies involved in the biotechnology industry will have an incentive to ensure that biological diversity is preserved, as it may be useful in developing future biotechnological inventions.
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