Three finger peptides.
Able to Ctrl.Alt.Del the pain away.
(See your sysadmin if Windows persists.)
The venom of the Black Mamba, rated the world's seventh most potent snake poison, has been suggested as a future painkiller for humans. A letter in Nature suggests the application is viable as the venom contains “a new class of three-finger peptides … able to abolish pain through inhibition of Acid-sensing ion channels (ASICs …
Surely the fact that the compound exists in nature is the ultimate form of prior art?
Or is it the manufacturing/purification process the "unique and novel" bit.
Why do I get the feeling that Big Pharma patents are at least as broken as Tech ones?
(Just so we are clear where I stand - In Your Face Ventnor)
Big pharma has always been Broken.. *shrug*
And yes, it's the "discovery" of a naturally occurring substance that is patentable. You'd be surprised how much work and technology goes into isolating, purifying, and typing a *bio-active* substance that's often only present as a couple a molecules /ml.
"the manufacturing/purification process the "unique and novel" bit"
In theory that should be it, and it would be possible to patent the process of synthesizing the chemical, such patent being limited to 10-15 years, and NOT possible to patent the compound itself.
In practice..... SIGH!
This really sounds like one from Igor (or Junior Postman Groat, for that matter). Mamba poison does kill all pain (quite quickly), along with the rest of you.
It also reminds me of the proposed surgical treatment for migraine (amputation of the head)
Still, kudos to the scientists if this works well.
Can they actually patent the venom? I didn't think you were allowed to patent anything found in nature?
I'd heard about the idea of using snake venom as a pain killer before, but I didn't know it was moving along towards actually being done. Sounds like a good idea to me, since I doubt it's addictive... though speaking personally I don't want to live anywhere near the farms, I'm pathologically scared of snakes.
Things that it should not be possible to patent (but sadly appear to be, these days):
* The medical use of snake venom
* The use of black mamba poison to produce medicine
* Using black mamba poison derived compounds to produce an analgesic medication in humans
Things that it should be possible to patent:
* A specific active compound or combination of compounds (in precise ratio) that has been clinically tested and proven to have an analgesic effect in humans.
* A specific non-obvious method for processing naturally occurring black mamba poison that results in a purified or other form of improved result - for example, that patented compound described above.
other widely used snake venom related drugs: ACE (angiotensin converting enzyme) peptide inhibitors such as Enalapril et al. developed since the 1960's for congestive heart failure and hypertension. (key article by SH Ferreira in '65 indicated that the venom of the Brazilian Pit Viper (Bothrops jararaca) was a vasodilator)
Next they'll be trying to persuade me that aspirins grow on trees!
How can you patent a discovery in nature?
Patent a unique process for extracting/synthesing the compound, but patent something that exists in nature should definitely be a fail. Although good news if this does work - but will it be suitable for vegetarians? :)
I'm not normally one to fight the corner of the patent industry and indeed wish a plague of boils on Apple, Samsung and their like, but in this case I'll make an exception.
This is a potentially useful discovery, one which is unlikely to have been made if there was no financial gain to be made. Remove the reward and no risk will be taken.
Only a fool thinks they have patented black mamba venom. They've patented a very specific discovery involving one of the components of the venom. That seems like something worth fighting for.
[pedant] Poison is ingested, venom is injected [/pedant]