History sheet

The first ever patent in microbiology was granted to Louis Pasteur in 1873. It was on "yeast, free from organic diseases, as an article of manufacture". This was followed by the anti-toxin serum patent (1877), the bacteria vaccine patent (1904) and the viral vaccine patent (1916).

The first microorganism-based product patent granted on oil-eating bacteria was given to Ananda Chakrabarty in 1980. Chakrabarty, an employee of the General Electric Company, US, claimed that this genetically manipulated bacteria could break down multiple components of crude oil. The patent was initially denied on the ground that the bacteria was a product of nature.

In the same year, in a historic move, the US Supreme Court ruled live, human-made microorganisms to be patentable. These do not occur naturally, but are modified (to develop a particular characteristic or property) by introducing a foreign gene, and are called 'genetically mani-pulated microorganisms'.

"Scientists can introduce any desired characteristic in a life-form by using microbiological techniques and can do so in a far more energy-efficient, and hence, cost-effective, manner as compared to conventional processes," says Pat Mooney of the Canada-based Rural Advancement Foundation International. AgriStar Inc, a US-based biotech company, is developing a transgenic plant to be used as an oral vaccine. The company recently received a US patent on its technology, which it says will provide a low-cost method of inoculating children and livestock in developing countries of the world.