An article recently published in the journal Lab Animal highlights the intellectual property (IP) associated with the creation of new, genetically engineered mouse models. Taconic Biosciences' Dr. Megan MacBride has witnessed the development of new models and the IP associated with each firsthand. When creating a specialized mouse for Roland Wolf, professor of pharmacology at the University of Dundee, Taconic had to obtain all the necessary patents that cover the technology used to create the model. In this constantly-evolving landscape, it is important to note that "with each new mouse model, of course, comes new challenges in protecting its IP" concludes MacBride:
"As methods to create new mouse models advance, protecting the intellectual property those animals represent is getting more complicated.
Scottish scientist Roland Wolf has been working for the past 10 years to make a mouse model that metabolizes drugs the way humans do. It has been an ambitious project, Wolf says, one that has involved deleting 35 mouse genes that make the cytochrome P450 enzymes that are essential for drug metabolism, and then replacing them with their human counterparts." Read the complete article at: Nature.com
"As methods to create new mouse models advance, protecting the intellectual property those animals represent is getting more complicated. Scottish scientist Roland Wolf has been working for the past 10 years to make a mouse model that metabolizes drugs the way humans do. It has been an ambitious project, Wolf says, one that has involved deleting 35 mouse genes that make the cytochrome P450 enzymes that are essential for drug metabolism, and then replacing them with their human counterparts."