> Biologists have long been able to edit genomes with molecular tools. About ten years ago, they became excited by enzymes called zinc finger nucleases that promised to do this accurately and efficiently. But zinc fingers, which cost US$5,000 or more to order, were not widely adopted because they are difficult to engineer and expensive, says James Haber, a molecular biologist at Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts. CRISPR works differently: it relies on an enzyme called Cas9 that uses a guide RNA molecule to home in on its target DNA, then edits the DNA to disrupt genes or insert desired sequences. Researchers often need to order only the RNA fragment; the other components can be bought off the shelf. Total cost: as little as $30. “That effectively democratized the technology so that everyone is using it,” says Haber. “It’s a huge revolution.” [1]
I am from Brazil, and my sister, and a lab partner of hers are the first persons in Brazil to develop and use a local version of CRISPR, the bugdet of their lab is not that big, and finding reagents was a bit difficult, but not too much, but I think maybe her lab didn't have to pay all the patent licenses, I am not sure.
My sister is currently at MIT learning direct from the source (it was invented at MIT) how to do "real" CRISPR (in the sense that the Brazillian version was made by her and another lab mate reading papers and replicating them, it worked, but in a inconsistant manner, sometimes it worked perfectly, sometimes it failed for no obvious reason, the Brazillian government then decided to pay to send my sister to MIT so she can learn how to do it properly and then come back and teach the others here).
http://labiotech.eu/crispr-patent-war-end-discovery-new-edit...
So in 20 years it'll be pretty cheap. Meanwhile, China and other parts of the world that happily ignore patents will use the technology without restriction.
http://www.nature.com/news/chinese-scientists-genetically-mo...
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/11943103/Chinese-...
Patents are a racket that governments run against their own people, exclusively for the benefit of a very few inventors and a whole lot of lawyers.
But hey, continuing to do the same thing and expecting different results sounds like the righteous path.