A wide range of legal, moral, and political issues were opened when the U.S. Patent Office awarded the "Harvard Mouse" patent. In reaction some members of Congress called for a two-year moratorium on such genetic patents so that the question could be further studied. And the nation's farmers were concerned with the precedent. A spokesman for the National Farmers' Union asserted that animal patenting was "an economic issue." Patenting animal life would have important consequences on the nation's farms. Genetically altered livestock herds might yield greater quantities of milk or meat, but would farmers be required to pay royalties to scientists each time a genetically altered animal gave birth to a foal, lamb, or piglet? Would the offspring also be covered under the initial patent?

Mutant Dangers.

There was also concern over the potential impact of genetically altered life on the...