The ETC group will challenge a patent made by the J. Craig Venter Institute that is titled “Minimal bacterial genome”. The global patent application refers to the bacterium made completely out of synthetic DNA as Synthia, in keeping with the tradition of Dolly. In ETC group’s view, the patent amounts to
the world’s first-ever human-made species.
A posting on Slashdot also characterizes this patent as the initial entry into a new field of “Genetic Patents”.
