Scientific materials required for research will become more expensive and difficult to purchase if one corporation owns the rights to the material. Patents exploit taxpayer-funded research. The development of biotechnology rests on 50 years of federally funded biomedical research. Corporations can make profits on their patented products by charging high prices to the citizens whose tax dollars supported the research and development of the products. Citizens are unfairly being asked to pay twice for medicines and other products.
Patents promote unsustainable and inequitable agricultural policies.
A disastrous decline in genetic diversity could be the result of patenting of crop species. The genetic diversity inherent in living systems makes patent claims difficult to defend. The development of genetically uniform organisms would make it easier for corporations to maintain their patent claims. Biotech companies holding broad spectrum patents on food crops will lure farmers to grow modified varieties with promises of greater yields and disease resistance. First World patenting of Third World genetic resources represents theft of community resources.