Sub: Biology Topic: Bio-Marketing

Question:
In 1999, the Icelandic parliament passed an act to establish a national gene bank, a large-scale
genetic database composed of blood samples from each of its 275,000 citizens. DNA isolated
from this blood was to be used as the basis for genetics studies. But lately, privacy concerns
have caused Iceland to rethink the project.

ClassOf1 provides exert guidance for College, Graduate and High school homework and live online tutoring on subjects like
Finance, Marketing, Statistics, Economics and others. Check out more solved problems in our Solution Library.

Iceland was the first country to create a gene bank, followed by Estonia and then Tonga.
Iceland is unique in that it has a fairly homogeneous population in which little immigration
occurs, and several natural disasters have contributed to similarities in the population's gene
pool. In addition, the country provides national medical care for its citizens, so it has extensive
medical records dating back to 1915. Furthermore, genealogies of many Icelandic families are
available for as far back as 500 years.

Concerns arose when Iceland's parliament decided to sell exclusive rights to all its
genetic data and medical and genealogical records to a U.S. company, de CODE Genetics, for
the purpose of gene discovery. In turn, decode promised to provide any treatments and
diagnostic tests developed from this research free of charge to Icelanders for the life of the
patient. In a very short time, decode promised to provide any treatments and diagnostic tests
developed from this research free of charge to Icelanders for the life of the patient. In a very
short time, decode signed a $200 million contract with Hoffman LaRoche to search for several
common human genetic diseases. So far, several genes have been successfully identified,
including a gene linked to osteoarthritis.

www.classof1.com
Sub: Biology Topic: Bio-Marketing

Opponents of this agreement felt that it allowed a scientific monopoly on a veritable

gold mine of genetic information. But even more seriously, they objected to the gene database
on the basis of patient’s rights regarding informed consent and genetic privacy. In the United
States, you must give permission to have your samples used for research. In Iceland, everyone
would be included in the genetic research unless they “opted out,” although the data were to
be encrypted so that no sample could be linked to a particular person. Even though researchers
are commonly allowed access to medical databases as long as the data cannot be linked to
individual patients, the commercial nature of this data bank and its for –profit research caused
some people to feel that individual consent should have been required before the medical
records were released to decode. In April 2004, Iceland’s Supreme Court ruled that “the 1998
law governing the creation of the database is unconstitutional because it fails to protect
personal privacy adequately.”

Do you think any for-profit company should have a monopoly or preferred position with
regard to genetic databases or medical records? Why or why not?

Solution:
I think that any for-profit company should hold a monopoly or preferred position
especially in regard with genetic databases or medical records, because without that the
company cannot gain any for-profit. Monopoly is the exclusive right of a person, corporation or
state to sell a particular commodity. In the above essay Iceland’s parliament was holding
genetic and medical and genealogical records which indirectly means the commodities what
Iceland holds and it also holds the right to sell it, ultimately it turned to be a monopoly. The
genetic and medical and genealogical records holds selling exclusive rights which has been
transferred to single company deCODE sets up the possibility for both exploitation of whatever

www.classof1.com
 Sub: Biology Topic: Bio-Marketing

information comes from the research, and for control over access to the benefits it may yield. It
is ironic that such exclusive licensing deals make the quintessentially public resource of Iceland
into a private commodity belonging to deCODE and may end up denying access to its benefits
to the very individuals whose DNA make discoveries possible. By selling the genetic and medical
and genealogical records Iceland in turn got treatments and diagnostic tests free of cost from
the company to which the records were sold. Iceland by selling the records has turned to be an
non-profit company as it does not hold any commodity or record to sell further, whereas the
deCODE US company by procuring the records holds the commodity or in other words holds
monopoly or preferred position with regard to the genetic and medical and genealogical
records from Iceland and becomes a for-profit company. The genetic and medical and
genealogical records would serve as a means of for-profit records which they can partially or
wholly rely upon for further profits. If the company does not hold the monopoly then it would
not have got the contract with LaRoche in a very short duration for $ 200. For these reasons, I
strongly believe that any for-profit company should hold a monopoly or preferred position
especially in regard with genetic databases or medical records.

** End of the Solution **

ClassOf1 provides exert guidance for College, Graduate and High school homework and live online tutoring on subjects like
Finance, Marketing, Statistics, Economics and others. Check out more solved problems in our Solution Library.

www.classof1.com