Should private companies be able to patent life forms, including genetic material? Why or why not? Who owns and controls our personal genetic information? Who should have access to our personal genetic information and decide how it will be used?

No, corporations should not be given the ability to patent life forms, specifically genetic material. Genes are not the result of human ingenuity. This basic fact, which no respectable scientist would deny, should suffice to shut them out as patent candidates. After the first patent was granted, the floodgates opened, and patent applications flooded in. As genome-sequencing technology developed, scientists identified thousands, then millions, of genes using highly automated techniques, and the deluge of gene patents grew unmanageable. Secondly, patenting genes is antithetical to scientific research. Even if gene patents remain legal, scientists should refuse to file them for another reason: every scientist who files a gene patent is unwittingly engaging in a process that breaches the fundamental rules of science. Scientists, in particular, should publicize their results and urge others to continue their work. This notion applies to all scientists, but it is especially true for those who work at universities, nonprofits, and other academic institutions. Personal genetic information should belong to self.