Palombi (Regulatory Institutions Network, Australian National U.) provides a historical review of the patents of isolated biological materials such as DNA and shows how corporations actually suppress research through legal methods. Written for historians, scientists and legal academics, this book maintains that patents should be reserved for inventions, and that patenting biological materials is an illegal monopolization of nature. The author supports his points by examining the history of Anglo-American patent systems, the use of patents in economic warfare and the patent monopoly vs. free trade argument. Annotation ©2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)