Crude Oil-Eating Bacteria
In 1972, General Electric applied for a patent with the US Patents and Trademarks Office to protect an invention consisting of genetically modified "Pseudomonas" bacteria, capable of breaking down the components of crude oil. In other words, the bacteria "devoured" oil, producing non-harmful substances in the process. Its inventor, the microbiologist Ananda Chakrabarty, became world famous as the grant of this patent, after eight years of court cases, became a point of reference in the US patent system and, indirectly, in the European system as well. From then on, the phrase of the US Supreme Court in this case ("Diamond v Chakrabarty") became famous: "anything under the sun made by man" could be protected by a patent. Certainly, aside from doctrinal discussion on the whether the scope of patent protection should be extended to inventions consisting of live organisms, and if so, within what limits, the great scientific and practical utility of this kind of invention is undeniable.
Since Chakrabarty managed to genetically modify certain bacteria in order to break down hydrocarbons, the use of this type of bacteria in land and water decontamination has become one of the most well-known and effective bioremediation methods.
However, the ecological disasters produced by oil slicks have sharpened scientists' creative genius and they have developed new decontamination methods as well as improvements in the bioremediation system using live organisms. The most recent example is from Spain where scientists from Granada University have developed a new fertiliser to multiply the bacteria which are autochthonous to the Galician coast. It is hoped that they are able to break down the fuel still inside the Prestige when the mechanical extraction work ends in September.
Links:
Chakrabarty Patent:
patft.uspto.gov
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