Jeremy Rifkin

Jeremy Rifkin is president of the Foundation on Economic Trends and the author of The Biotech Century: Harnessing the Gene and Remaking the World, from which the following viewpoint is excerpted. In it, he warns that research universities and biotechnology companies are being allowed to patent the genes they discover in the course of their research. Rifkin believes that genes are products of nature, and thus should not be given the same legal recognition as man-made inventions. He concludes that the race to claim ownership of human, plant, and animal genes will give biotechnology corporations enormous power over the future of genetic engineering.

As you read, consider the following questions:

1. According to Rifkin, why did the U.S. Patents and Trademark Office (PTO) initially reject Ananda Chakrabarty’s application for a patent...