In 1976 surgeons removed cancerous spleen cells from a leukemia patient, John Moore of California (USA), and later developed a cell line (designated "Mo") from the cell sample. In 1979, Moore's doctors applied for a patent on the Mo cell line, which was found to produce high levels of useful (and profitable) proteins. (The patent was granted in 1984.) In 1984, John Moore filed a lawsuit claiming that his blood cells were misappropriated, and that he was entitled to share in the profits derived from commercial uses of these cells.

The potential value of the pharmaceuticals derived from the Mo cell line could reach several billion dollars–but the California Supreme Court ruled in 1990 that John Moore has rights to none of it. A clear victory for the biotechnology industry, the court ruled that although John Moore had the right to sue his doctors for failing to inform him of the potential commercial value of his cell line, he did not have rights of ownership over his cells after they had been removed from his body.

Leslie Gornstein