H-Sci-Med-Tech: New posted content
McGonigle on Goldstein, 'Patenting Life: Tales from the Front Lines of Intellectual Property and The New Biology' [Review]
Goldstein, Jorge. Patenting Life: Tales from the Front Lines of Intellectual Property and The New Biology. : Georgetown University Press, 2025. xxi + 337 pp. $29.95 (cloth), ISBN 9781647125196.
Reviewed by
Ian McGonigle (Maynooth University)
Published on
H-Sci-Med-Tech (July, 2026)
Commissioned by
Penelope K. Hardy (University of Wisconsin-La Crosse)
Printable Version: https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showpdf.php?id=62737
Patenting Life: Tales from the Front Lines of Intellectual Property and the New Biology is anchored in the transformative breakthroughs in molecular biology that emerged in the 1970s, particularly the advent of recombinant DNA technologies that rendered genes malleable and biological materials synthetically manipulable. A pivotal moment—when bacteria were engineered to produce human insulin—drew the attention of venture capitalists and multinational corporations, repositioning biology as an emerging industrial substrate. At the same time, biologists became increasingly aware of patent law, and intersections between scientific discovery and legal ownership proliferated.
Jorge Goldstein situates these developments within a longer history of intellectual property, tracing patent law back roughly five hundred years to Renaissance Venice. There, patents functioned as instruments of talent recruitment, offering temporary monopolies to skilled artisans in exchange for relocating with their specialist knowledge. From the outset, patents were both time-limited and territorially bounded, a feature that persists today. Against this backdrop, the transition from “pure” to “commercial” biology in the late twentieth century is framed as the outcome of both technical innovation—such as restriction enzymes—and legal institutional change that positioned universities as incubators of commercializable biotechnologies. These developments enabled precise DNA manipulation, facilitated firms like Genentech (founded 1976), and helped generate a biotechnology sector valued at approximately two trillion dollars by 2023. Goldstein characterizes this movement as a “gold rush,” centered particularly in California and driven by increasingly porous boundaries between academic research, scientist entrepreneurs, and industry.
The book is structured into five parts that move from the origins of commercial biology through legal doctrine and case law to contemporary ethical challenges. Chapters are short and narrative-driven, often unfolding as legal dramas around landmark cases. Central among these is Diamond v. Chakrabarty (1980), which established that genetically modified organisms could, under certain conditions, be patented. Goldstein positions himself not simply as commentator but also as participant. Trained first as a chemist and then as a patent lawyer, he draws on four decades of experience representing biotechnology clients, including work at Massachusetts General Hospital. This insider perspective lends authority and immediacy, while also shaping a style that brings the reader into elite spaces of deliberation and innovation.
The narrative reflects a morally conscientious author who adopts an ambivalent quasi-judicial stance, emphasizing the need to balance competing interests—particularly the social costs of patenting life against the policy imperative of incentivizing innovation. This balance is framed through the concept of tikkun olam (repairing the world), which recurs throughout. The result is sustained attention to tensions between inventive activity and social justice, particularly in relation to global access to medicines, national disparities in biotechnology capacity, and the long-term consequences of agricultural innovation, such as patented seeds.
A key conceptual thread is the incommensurability between biological and legal reasoning. As Goldstein shows, what constitutes an “invention” in science does not necessarily meet legal criteria for patentability. This incongruity is explored through such doctrinal concepts as novelty, non-obviousness, and inventive step, as well as through cases involving ownership and transformation. The legal notion of “conversion” is used to interrogate questions of ownership over biological materials, most famously in the case of Henrietta Lacks, whose cells became the HeLa line used widely in research. These examples show how legal ownership can arise through technical intervention and “modification of nature.” The book thus serves as an accessible introduction to the intersections of law and biology rather than a deep theoretical exploration.
Goldstein provides a clear account of how patent law has expanded across biological scales, from microorganisms to therapeutic systems. Early patents on yeast strains and engineered bacteria capable of degrading oil are presented as precursors to more recent developments. Later decisions focus on gene patenting, where the distinction between naturally occurring DNA and synthetic complementary DNA (cDNA) becomes central. While genes as they exist in nature are no longer patentable, cDNA can be because it is laboratory-produced. This nuance highlights the divergence between biological and legal categories and the difficulty of translating reasoning across domains. Similar issues arise with purification: Natural substances may become patentable when sufficiently altered, as in the case of the drug Taxol.
Core legal principles are explained with clarity. The doctrine of “enablement,” for example, requires patents to disclose sufficient information for replication, contributing to the development of public repositories, such as seed banks. The “Wands factors”—which the author helped establish in relation to antibody applications—illustrate how courts assess the permissible breadth of patent claims. These examples demonstrate the legal acrobatics required to govern modern biotechnology.
The latter part of the book turns to the political economy of biopharmaceuticals and the ethical implications of patenting life. Patents are presented as mechanisms balancing public benefit and private reward, though with uneven consequences across industries. In fast-moving fields, such as microchips, speed to market may outweigh patent protection, whereas in biotechnology—where development is lengthy and capital-intensive—patents are essential for recouping investment and incentivizing innovation. These differences underscore the difficulty of applying a uniform patent regime across sectors.
Patents are discussed not as abstract moral absolutes but as dynamic public policy governing controlled monopolies, particularly in pharmaceuticals, where they can produce high prices and restricted access. Goldstein describes patents as a “generational gift,” rewarding long-term investment while incentivizing future innovation, but he remains attentive to the ethical dilemmas this creates. He discusses such mechanisms as the Bayh-Dole Act (1980), which allows government intervention in cases of public need, and such practices as compulsory licensing, which can enable lower-income countries to access essential medicines. However, the rise of biologics—complex therapeutic products that are difficult to reproduce—complicates this picture, as patent expiry does not necessarily translate into easy access.
The book also explores how companies strategically navigate patent systems, including through “submarine” patents and “evergreening.” At the same time, patents are not the sole determinants of market power; branding practices can sustain dominance even after patents expire. Goldstein’s discussion of these issues positions patent law as a dynamic, contested terrain shaped by legal principles and commercial strategy.
Goldstein’s commitment to tikkun olam becomes particularly visible in his discussion of pro bono work and Indigenous intellectual property rights. Drawing on his experience, he highlights cases involving plant-derived technologies in Colombia and agricultural innovations in Native American communities. These examples are framed as attempts to redress global inequalities in intellectual property regimes, particularly the asymmetric flow of knowledge from the Global North to the Global South. Goldstein suggests that, under supportive conditions, this flow could be reversed, enabling resource-rich regions to become sources of valuable intellectual property.
At times, the narrative adopts an adversarial legal framing that casts actors in terms of “good” and “bad,” raising questions about the author’s own normative positioning given his professional role. While the book is often ethnographically rich, scientists are occasionally portrayed as lacking legal or business acumen, and the majority of cases remain US-centric despite the book’s broader relevance. Moreover, while ethical questions are addressed, there is limited engagement with deeper philosophical issues surrounding the manipulation of life, such as the ontological implications of synthetic biology or broader religious perspectives. Attempts to address gender and racial diversity are present but sometimes feel superficial. The book is ultimately more socially conscious than theoretically ambitious within science and technology studies (STS) or history of science debates.
These limitations, however, do not detract significantly from the book’s value. Patenting Life is an engaging and accessible account of the co-evolution of biotechnology and patent law, enriched by the author’s insider perspective. It offers insight into legal, commercial, and ethical dimensions while maintaining a balanced stance that neither fully celebrates nor wholly criticizes the patent system. As a result, it will appeal to students and scholars in law, anthropology, and STS, as well as practitioners in biotechnology and intellectual property.
Ultimately, Goldstein presents commercial biology as broadly positive and defensible, albeit requiring careful regulation and ongoing ethical reflection. His central argument—that patent systems must balance innovation with equitable access—resonates with wider scholarship in the sociology of biomedicine, while remaining unusually grounded in professional legal experience. For readers seeking a clear overview of the legal history of late twentieth- and early twenty-first-century biology, this book provides a polished and informative introduction.
Citation:
Ian McGonigle.
Review of
Goldstein, Jorge.
Patenting Life: Tales from the Front Lines of Intellectual Property and The New Biology.
H-Sci-Med-Tech, H-Net Reviews.
July, 2026.
URL:
https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=62737
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
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