Food Network Focus Question - Alia Latimer

Should DNA be allowed to be patented?

In the Documentary Food INC there are several issues that are brought to our attention each more shocking than the last. he most alarming in my opinion was the fact that farmers were aloud to patent living things. In my opinion this should not be allowed, for what seemingly should be obvious reasons, starting with the just the pure absurdity.
To Start, there is the issue of living things multiplying by themselves. If you have a new model of sewing machine there wont be another unless you or someone else makes another. However with most living creatures, that isn't necessarily true. Living things are unpredictable and messy. They can easily create cross breeds and multiply, so one farmer often winds up contaminating another farmer's crop. A farmer might not seal the seeds, but they could easily grow on their property because seeds are made to spread.
Some might argue that it should be allowed since researchers worked hard to create these specimens, and they deserve to safely profit from their findings. The scientists work hard to achieve a certain result, and that work should be rewarded,  which I agree with, don't get me wrong. Unfortunately, unlike the machinery man develops, evolution was not founded in a lab.  So although I do understand their side, and acknowledge that with the proper containment precautions, such as making the specimen infertile it may be possible, it all just comes down to the fact that living things just weren't meant to be patented.