In a message dated 7/1/00 5:49:26 PM Central Daylight Time,
neosapient@yahoo.com writes:
> > > Together with an American biotechnology firm, the team
> > > hopes to begin clinical trials in Canadian cancer patients
> > > in about 18 months.
> >
> >Ludicrous. Why isn't someone auctioning off vials of vesicular
> >stomatitis virus on eBay? (Or auctions.yahoo.com, actually; Yahoo is
> >less picky.)
>
> This is actually a great idea. You could also set up your own website and
> hold private auctions there. Potentially very lucrative. I wonder, would
> something like this be legally possible (selling viruses)? How should you
> ship the virus to your customers; do any special rules apply here? It's
> supposedly a pretty harmless virus, but some kind of default biohazard
laws
> might still apply. What say ye lawyers?
In one of my former lives, I administered domestic and international
shipments of "hazardous materials" and know that this activity is highly
regulated. Shipment of the VSV virus would fall under the kinds of
regulations you'll find discussed at:
http://www.ehs.ucsf.edu/Manuals/BSM/APPENDIX%20k1_K3.html
Search for the section entitled "DOMESTIC AND INTERNATIONAL SHIPMENT OF
BIOLOGICAL MATERIALS"
Of course, you'll also probably run afoul of any number of laws prohibiting
the unlicensed practice of medicine. Good luck.
Greg Burch <GBurch1@aol.com>----<gburch@lockeliddell.com>
Attorney ::: Vice President, Extropy Institute ::: Wilderness Guide
http://users.aol.com/gburch1 -or- http://members.aol.com/gburch1
ICQ # 61112550
"We never stop investigating. We are never satisfied that we know
enough to get by. Every question we answer leads on to another
question. This has become the greatest survival trick of our species."
-- Desmond Morris
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