panies invest millions of dollars into the development of genetic engineering techniques and because of this they need to be able to protect their investment and get a reasonable return on their money. The money they do earn from the patent can then be reinvested into conducting more research into biotechnology to develop more and even better techniques.Patents, however could stifle the research of government funded research groups into transgenic plants because they would have to pay the companies each time they would want to use the patented technique. Scientists may see no point in continuing their research because the company granted the patent would reap the rewards.This issue has also raised the question of whether people should be able to patent life forms. Some people argue that the ownership of transgenic organisms is morally wrong on the basis that they are the shared heritage of everyone on earth, but on the other hand the agricultural industry is based on the ownership of animals and plants. Word count: 1,476...
