[Nettime-bold] PROTECT YOUR GENETIC RIGHTS!

[Patrick Lichty <voyd@voyd.com>]

A CALL TO PARTICPATION
DN-AID

In an age where corporations are copyrighting potions of the Human Genome, what
is to stop commercial interests from licensing your genetic code?  

Not much.

In a response to these commercial pressures, Artist Larry Miller offers you
methods to copyright YOUR DNA at the following site:

http://www.creativetime.org/dnaid/copyright.html

As Larry Writes on the site:

There may never be another YOU.

But if there ever should be, would you have
any legal rights to the original design? 
As you go through life, you leave your DNA behind. . . It can be copied and
'read' like a genetic software program detailing your exact construction. What
if someone decides to decode your DNA to get information on you or patent some
of your genes because they might have a market value? What action can you
take? 
At this point, it seems YOU DO NOT OWN YOUR GENES. That is to say you have no
personal authority to prevent your genome (your unique DNA sequence spelled out
in genetic code) from being replicated by others for a variety of potential
uses. 
DNA is becoming merchandise. Since the Supreme Court opened the door to the
patenting of animals in the early 1980's, industries, institutions and
government agencies have granted patents on the genetic cell lines of life
forms progressing from bacterium to human beings. Hundreds of patents on human
cell lines have already been issued and with the completion of the Human Genome
Project, a new wave of patent applications can be expected. 
There are many good legal and ethical questions to be raised about the Genetic
Revolution, so if prudence (or merely a love of novelty) is one of YOUR
inherited biological traits, take advantage of the first means available to
stake a claim on your genes. Download the Genetic Code Copyright certificate
(PDF-Acrobat Plug-in Required). This simple fill-in form offers you a means to
proclaim ownership of your individual genetic identity. It is a symbolic
gesture of your claim to rights that is not a legally recognized act at this
time. 
Become a Certified Original Human. 

COPYRIGHT YOUR DNA TODAY!


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