1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:01,920 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I 2 00:00:02,040 --> 00:00:06,560 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hey everyone, I'm Eves and welcome to This 3 00:00:06,640 --> 00:00:09,640 Speaker 1: Day in History Class, a show that believes no day 4 00:00:09,680 --> 00:00:13,640 Speaker 1: in history is a slow day. Today is April twelve. 5 00:00:24,840 --> 00:00:29,360 Speaker 1: The day was April twelfth. Night onco mouse became the 6 00:00:29,400 --> 00:00:33,640 Speaker 1: first animal to be patented in the United States. Before 7 00:00:33,760 --> 00:00:36,519 Speaker 1: nineteen eighty, it was believed that living things were not 8 00:00:36,600 --> 00:00:40,800 Speaker 1: eligible for patenting, But while working at General Electric, genetic 9 00:00:40,840 --> 00:00:45,240 Speaker 1: engineer Ananda Mohan Chakra Bardi developed a bacterium that could 10 00:00:45,280 --> 00:00:49,199 Speaker 1: break down crude oil and ability that no naturally occurring 11 00:00:49,240 --> 00:00:54,360 Speaker 1: bacteria had. When General Electric filed a patent application for 12 00:00:54,400 --> 00:00:58,960 Speaker 1: the bacterium, the application was rejected. The Patent Office Board 13 00:00:58,960 --> 00:01:03,240 Speaker 1: of Appeals of armed this rejection, but the United States 14 00:01:03,280 --> 00:01:07,520 Speaker 1: Court of Customs and Patent Appeals reversed this decision, saying 15 00:01:07,600 --> 00:01:11,160 Speaker 1: that quote the fact that microorganisms are alive is without 16 00:01:11,319 --> 00:01:15,120 Speaker 1: legal significance for purposes of the patent law. The Supreme 17 00:01:15,160 --> 00:01:17,760 Speaker 1: Court affirmed the decision of the Court of Customs and 18 00:01:17,760 --> 00:01:21,240 Speaker 1: Patent Appeals. In the nine team eight D case Diamond 19 00:01:21,280 --> 00:01:24,639 Speaker 1: versus Chaco Party, the Supreme Court ruled that a live 20 00:01:24,800 --> 00:01:29,600 Speaker 1: human made microorganism is patentable subject matter, as a manufacturer 21 00:01:29,720 --> 00:01:33,280 Speaker 1: or a composition of matter. It said that the bacterium 22 00:01:33,319 --> 00:01:36,160 Speaker 1: was patentable because the patent claim was not for a 23 00:01:36,240 --> 00:01:41,240 Speaker 1: quote hitherto unknown natural phenomenon, but instead had markedly different 24 00:01:41,319 --> 00:01:46,560 Speaker 1: characteristics from any found in nature. The bacterium, known as 25 00:01:46,760 --> 00:01:51,280 Speaker 1: Pseudomonis putida, is the first patented living organism in the world. 26 00:01:52,400 --> 00:01:55,360 Speaker 1: The Chaco party case was a landmark one that paved 27 00:01:55,440 --> 00:01:58,760 Speaker 1: the way for the patenting of other living organisms and 28 00:01:59,000 --> 00:02:03,360 Speaker 1: the protection of bio technology related inventions. In the early 29 00:02:03,440 --> 00:02:07,880 Speaker 1: nineteen eighties, researchers at Harvard Medical School created a genetically 30 00:02:07,920 --> 00:02:12,040 Speaker 1: modified mouse that was highly susceptible to cancer. By introducing 31 00:02:12,040 --> 00:02:15,440 Speaker 1: an Onco gene that triggers the growth of tumors. The 32 00:02:15,520 --> 00:02:19,680 Speaker 1: mouse could be used for studying cancer and testing therapies 33 00:02:19,720 --> 00:02:24,360 Speaker 1: for cancer treatment. In June of n four, Harvard College 34 00:02:24,400 --> 00:02:27,640 Speaker 1: fouled to patent application for the so called Onco mouse 35 00:02:27,760 --> 00:02:30,880 Speaker 1: in the US that included the process by which the 36 00:02:30,919 --> 00:02:35,200 Speaker 1: mice were produced and the mice themselves. Harvard went on 37 00:02:35,240 --> 00:02:40,920 Speaker 1: to file applications around the world in countries like Australia, Canada, Ireland, Belgium, 38 00:02:40,960 --> 00:02:45,560 Speaker 1: and Denmark. In seven, the U S Patent and Trademark 39 00:02:45,639 --> 00:02:50,799 Speaker 1: Office said that quote non naturally occurring non human multicellular 40 00:02:50,960 --> 00:02:55,679 Speaker 1: living organisms, including animals, were pattable. This paved the way 41 00:02:55,720 --> 00:02:59,240 Speaker 1: for the Onco mouse's patent to be granted. On April 42 00:02:59,280 --> 00:03:02,240 Speaker 1: twelve and nine eight, the U S Patent and Trademark 43 00:03:02,320 --> 00:03:06,480 Speaker 1: Office granted Harvard College Patent number four million, seven hundred 44 00:03:06,520 --> 00:03:09,400 Speaker 1: and thirty six thousand, eight hundred and sixty six. The 45 00:03:09,440 --> 00:03:13,480 Speaker 1: patent was for a quote transgenic non human mammal, all 46 00:03:13,560 --> 00:03:17,480 Speaker 1: of whose germ sales and somatic sales contain a recombinant 47 00:03:17,520 --> 00:03:22,160 Speaker 1: activated ONCO gene sequence introduced into said mammal or an 48 00:03:22,200 --> 00:03:26,320 Speaker 1: ancestor of said mammal at an embryonic stage. A transgenic 49 00:03:26,360 --> 00:03:29,440 Speaker 1: animal is one that contains genetic material that has been 50 00:03:29,520 --> 00:03:34,960 Speaker 1: artificially inserted. Other labs were developing similar mice using different genes, 51 00:03:35,280 --> 00:03:39,560 Speaker 1: but Onco mouse was the first to be patented. Harvard 52 00:03:39,600 --> 00:03:43,120 Speaker 1: gave chemical company DuPont, which helped fund the research done 53 00:03:43,120 --> 00:03:48,240 Speaker 1: at Harvard Medical School, priority to license the patent. DuPont 54 00:03:48,280 --> 00:03:52,080 Speaker 1: began marketing and selling the Onco mouse. Researchers who viewed 55 00:03:52,200 --> 00:03:56,480 Speaker 1: lab mice as shared resources took issue with this. Animal 56 00:03:56,560 --> 00:03:59,240 Speaker 1: rights groups also opposed the patenting of animals and the 57 00:03:59,280 --> 00:04:03,960 Speaker 1: commercial use of the genetically engineered Onco mouse. In two thousand, 58 00:04:04,120 --> 00:04:07,160 Speaker 1: the U S National Institutes of Health reached an agreement 59 00:04:07,160 --> 00:04:10,360 Speaker 1: with du Pont so that DuPont would retained commercial rights, 60 00:04:10,640 --> 00:04:14,080 Speaker 1: but academic and government researchers could use Onco mouse without 61 00:04:14,080 --> 00:04:17,760 Speaker 1: a fee. The Onco mouse is also patented in Europe 62 00:04:17,760 --> 00:04:23,400 Speaker 1: and Japan. Since many other patents related to transgenic animals 63 00:04:23,440 --> 00:04:26,440 Speaker 1: have been issued in the US, the patent for the 64 00:04:26,480 --> 00:04:29,479 Speaker 1: Onco mouse has expired in the U S and other countries, 65 00:04:29,960 --> 00:04:33,320 Speaker 1: though the name Onco mouse is still a registered trademark. 66 00:04:34,680 --> 00:04:37,119 Speaker 1: I'm Eve Jeff Coo and hopefully you know a little 67 00:04:37,120 --> 00:04:41,400 Speaker 1: more about history today than you did yesterday. If there's 68 00:04:41,440 --> 00:04:43,800 Speaker 1: anything I missed, please let us know. You can do 69 00:04:43,880 --> 00:04:47,839 Speaker 1: so on social media at t D I h C podcast. 70 00:04:48,160 --> 00:04:50,640 Speaker 1: You can also send us an email at this Day 71 00:04:50,680 --> 00:04:54,320 Speaker 1: at iHeart media dot com. Thanks again for listening to 72 00:04:54,320 --> 00:05:01,640 Speaker 1: the show, and we'll see you tomorrow. 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