Core Battle in Life Sciences: The CRISPR-Cas9 Patent War Erupts

In March 2015, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office formally declared an "interference" proceeding between the University of California, Berkeley (led by Jennifer Doudna) and the Broad Institute (led by Feng Zhang) over key patents for the CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing technology. Dubbed the "molecular scissors" of Life Sciences, this technology holds the potential to fundamentally cure genetic diseases.

This patent battle was not just a fight for academic prestige, but a contest for the multi-trillion-dollar commercial value of the Future Industry of gene therapy and biotechnology, involving the interests of numerous investment firms and biotech startups. Its outcome would determine who controls the core tool of the next medical revolution.