Free and Open Science and Technology

J.P. Jackson III
Network for Open Scientific Innovation

There is a growing consensus that the costs of intellectual property rights threaten to undermine the very progress these rights are intended to promote. Particularly in biotechnology, where innovation depends on integrating complex chains of components, royalty stacking and "patent thickets" surrounding key technologies can cause an entire field to stagnate (eg the WARF patents). In the past 30 years, the life sciences have failed to deliver on their promise, with only a few "lottery winners" such as Amgen and Genetech, amidst a sea of "losers" that never turn a profit. Inspired by the success of Open Source software, a billion dollar industry that thrives on competition and high speed innovation rather than monopoly and reliance on exclusive patent rights, a new paradigm for biological innovation is emerging. This new organizational method is the key to revitalizing global drug discovery and accelerating fields from gene therapy, to regenerative medicine.

Keywords: Open Source Biotechnology, Patents