At 12:14 05/18/2000 EDT, TSAGURU@aol.com wrote:
>The recent discourse on the Histonet concerning Catalyzed Reporter
Deposition technology, commercially known as Tyramide Signal ....>

	Dear TSAGURU@aol.com,

	I'm sorry I don't get your arguement.  Just because some company files a
patent means everybody else is forced to use that product? & is denied the
opportunity to modify/improve the idea or its purpose?  Why can't any
individual in any lab contribute to the body of knowledge of science
through the advancement of an old idea into a new one?  Lets make this
clear I'm saying information from a journal.  I'm not saying nip down to
the patent office & use the patent information.  Frankly anybody who can
make a method work from the information given in the Methods section of a
journal article deserves a medal, its the first part of a paper to be
minimised.

	What is the point of publishing anything at all if the knowledge cannot be
used by the scientific community?  I thought the whole idea about
publishing was to let other scientists see what you were doing & if they
can, comment, improve, or disprove it.  You seem to be saying that this
whole process goes out the window if some commercial company claims a
patent.  As far as I am concerned if there is information published in a
journal, ie public knowledge, why can't I access & use this knowledge?  OK,
if I use that knowledge to create a product for my commercial benefit,
thats wrong.  But, if I use the idea, & acknowledge my sources, & improve
the idea or use the idea in a better way, whats the hassle, haven't I
expanded scientific knowledge?  

	My 2 cents worth

	Regards

	Rob W.
R. Wadley, B.App.Sc. M.L.S, Grad.Dip.Sc.MM
Laboratory Manager
Cellular Analysis Facility
School of Microbiology & Immunology
UNSW, New South Wales, Australia, 2052
Ph (BH) 	+61 (2) 9385 3517
Ph (AH)	+61 (2) 9564 0570
Fax 	+61 (2) 9385 1591
Mobile	0411 874 470
E-mail	r.wadley@unsw.edu.au
www	http://www.micro.unsw.edu.au/caf.html