Far from quiet on the gene silencing front
CSIRO has been granted a patent for the use of hairpin RNAi (RNA interference) gene silencing technology in plants, animals and humans in Australia after the completion of both an opposition process and re-examination by the country's patent office. The company has already been granted similar patents in China and New Zealand.
The patent marks a significant shift on the RNAi gene silencing landscape. The technology, 'a tool to knock out expression of specific genes in a variety of organisms', has been hailed as one of the most significant advances in biological and medical science in recent years, with hairpin RNAi being widely used in the identification of gene functions in plants and animals and mooted as a possible route for the development of novel traits for use in agriculture, veterinary and medical science.
In other patent cases in Australia, CSIRO was successful in opposing a related application by Syngenta, while two patents co-owned by CSIRO and Benitec Australia, which claim use of DNA-delivered RNAi in animal and human cells, were maintained after re-examination. Benitec has commercial rights for use in humans and related applications while CSIRO has exclusive rights for all other applications.
The company has also recently been granted a US patent for its Hellsgate series of RNAi vectors.