TASK:
1. A) Choose a protein of interest (one that has a therapeutic, diagnostic, industrial or agricultural use).
B) Describe the use of the protein C) Choose any commercially available plasmid.
D) Justify the choice based on the type of protein you wish to express and purify. (Half a page max.)
2. Summarise the function of each of the components shown on the plasmid you have chosen (read the product literature for the plasmids- this can be found on the web). You will need to read any relevant scientific papers you can find and the recommended text book. (Half a page max)
3. Decide on which components you will use to clone in the gene, express and purify your protein. LIST these in a table. Also note the function of those components, in the table.
4. Do a web search at the patent search web sites (discussed in lectures and/or workshops) and a search of supplier catalogues to see if any of the following components of your plasmid are already described in patent documents:
a) Promoter sequences in the plasmid (there might be more than one promoter in your plasmid).
b) The DNA sequence (or sequences) coding for your protein of interest.
c) The protein of interest or the amino acid sequence of the protein of interest.
d) Tags used for purification of the expressed protein (eg. HIS tag, Myc tag)
e) Antibiotic selection marker (s) in the plasmid
f) Multiple cloning sites in the plasmid
g) Polyadenylation signals in the plasmid
5. List all the relevant patents for the components listed at point 4 (above) (those that protect plasmid components and the expressed protein you initially decided to use) (10 marks), together with filing dates, expiry dates and countries designated (One to two pages - an Excel spreadsheet or Word table is acceptable).
6. Decide and state (in writing) in which country or countries you will a) manufacture and b) sell your protein (this might be the same country in which you manufacture, or it might not). Give reasons for your choices.
7. List the important claims of the patents you have found (at point 4). These claims might affect the sale of the protein in the countries you have chosen at point 6 (3 dot point claims from each patent is sufficient. 2 pages max., can be included in the spreadsheet/table).
8. List the owners or assignees of the patents you found at point 4 (above), from whom you might need to buy a license to use the inventions (i.e. the protein, plasmid components, purification methods etc.)
9. List the licenses you will need to purchase in the countries you have initially chosen, to a) express, b) to purify (and to sell or commercially use) a protein expressed from your plasmid (i.e. license from company "a": license from company "b" and so on).
10. List some methods or "work arounds" by which you could minimize the number of licenses you need to buy before you can commercially use the plasmid and the expressed protein. GIVE EXAMPLES
These methods might be:
a. Technical, or
b. Strategic. (1 page max)
11. List the web site addresses and references you used in a references section of your report. ALL references (including those from the web) must be listed in a consistent format (see NOTE, below).