A matter of money Popovich and others worry that the coming gold rush could trample people's privacy rights. Concern about investment money plays a big part in the industry's stand on ownership of genetic material, says Patrick Kelly, director of state government relations for the Biotechnology Industry Organization, which represents 850 of the largest biotech companies. It requires a lot of investment capital. That means the industry depends on a pool of calm investors. And nothing frightens investors like uncertainty.
Biotechnology is incredibly speculative.
The failure rate for businesses is 80 percent. Hogwash, says George Annas, a professor at Boston University's Schools of Medicine and Public Health. The model law, like Oregon's, specifies individual ownership of genetic material. Different types of ownership Annas says there's no basis to think personal ownership of DNA would hinder research. That's where the argument is miscast.