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Today, what BIO told the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office about AI, and why crops need to worry about superbugs, too. (614 words, 3 minutes, 4 seconds) |
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AI-assisted inventions belong to humans, BIO tells patent office |
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Innovation developed with artificial intelligence belongs to the human inventor using the AI, says BIO in comments to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
What’s happening: To “ensure continued U.S. leadership in AI and other emerging technologies,” USPTO sought opinions on AI-driven innovation in its “Request for Comments Regarding Artificial Intelligence and Inventorship.”
How BIO members use AI and machine learning: “to assist in drug discovery, clinical trial design, manufacturing process improvements, and a range of other applications,” says Hans Sauer, BIO’s VP for Intellectual Property.
Inventions belong to humans, writes Sauer, summarizing comments from BIO members in five points: - AI is a tool: “AI is not deemed to possess the agency, purpose, motivation, or the capacity for ideation.”
- “Significant human involvement” is required in making AI-assisted inventions.
- The Patent Act does not describe how inventions are developed. It says “patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.”
- Efforts to tally “inventive contributions” of AI and humans “would be unproductive and cumbersome.”
- “Current law on inventorship is adequate, for now. Questions of ownership are secondary and will be addressable after current questions about inventorship of AI-facilitated inventions are resolved.”
What’s next: USPTO closed the comment period Monday and will now consider “whether the current state of the law provides patent protection” for AI-generated innovation. BIO argues that it does.
The context: Bloomberg says AI could be a $50 billion opportunity for drug manufacturers. Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) yesterday called for “vigilance” to ensure we can realize the “rich potential benefits” of AI while also protecting patients from risks. |
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Drug-resistant fungi are coming for our food
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Along with acknowledging the risk of drug-resistant antifungals to human health, we also must address the growing threat to our food security, argues a Nature opinion piece. ICYMI: The World Health Organization (WHO) in October released its “first-ever list of health-threatening fungi,” warning dangerous new strains can resist antifungals, putting people with underlying health problems or weakened immune systems at greatest risk.
Crops need protection, too,write two researchers in Nature.
Here’s why: Risks to the 168 crops deemed important for humans include hundreds of fungal diseases that claim 10-23% of global crops and “another 10–20% post-harvest.” Unchecked, these fungi threaten global food supply.
Fungi are efficient pathogens—adapting to survive new antifungals and exploiting agriculture’s mass cultivation of genetically similar plants.
The researchers recommend biotech solutions, including… - Transgenic plants made with gene editing to include disease-resistant genes, which get an “immune boost” with enhanced extracellular receptor proteins. (This solution requires greater legal and public acceptance of transgenic plants.)
- Biologics from living organisms. Development of biostimulants, used to help biologics or used alone to encourage beneficial microbes, would be encouraged under the proposed Plant Biostimulant Act.
- RNA gene silencing, with biotech crops or other means, is a promising approach to crop protection that deserves more research.
Why it matters: “Because viruses and bacteria dominate as agents of human disease, these microbes have received much more attention than have fungi. Yet in crops, fungi are by far the most important agents of disease,” the article says. More Reading: We’re losing the fight against superbugs. The time to act is now. |
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