The Gatekeeper

Notwithstanding speculation as to likely judicial interpretation in the event the issue is raised in an actual case, the PTO serves as the gatekeeper of patents, determining what innovations qualify under its understanding of the statute and judicial precedent. An understanding of PTO practice provides perhaps the best current instruction on the issue of genetic patenting. 

The gatekeeper opens the window and the master of the lodge asks Why do you want to enter Reply Because common sense is guiding me. Question Do you feel strong enough to persevere on the route to straight thinking Reply Examine me. (The door is opened.)... 

The pyridinyl amide makes two hydrogen-bonding contacts to the main chain of Cys531, while the central aryl ring occupies the gatekeeper pocket—... 

Figure 19.22 The gatekeeping or filtering activity of the GroEL ATPase. The turnover number for the ATPase reaction (0.05-0.1 s-"1) is far slower than the refolding rate constant of 2-2.5 s-1 for GroEL-bound bamase. Only slowly folding proteins bind long enough to enter the chaperoning cycles of Figure 19.23.

FIGURE 2—18. Here the ion channel of Figure 2—17 is open. The gatekeeper has acted, on instruction from some neurotransmitter, to open the channel and allow ions to travel into the cell. 

Near the gatekeeper s receptor site is not only the ion channel but also another neurotransmitter receptor binding site, namely, a receptor capable of allosterically modulating the gatekeeper s receptor (Fig. 3—19). Allosteric modulatory sites do not directly influence the ion channel. They do so indirectly by influencing the gatekeeper receptor, which in turn influences the ion channel. Thus, the allosteric modulatory site acts literally at another site to influence the ion channel. Since the meaning of allosteric is other site, one can easily understand why this term is applied... 

Of course. Big Pharma s argument is that people aren t making decisions based on commercials as Ray Gilmartin said, they re supposed to talk over the commercial s message with their doctor. The doctor is still the gatekeeper. But when the talking is all done, the whole point of an ad is to persuade consumers to buy the product—or in this case, for consumers to persuade their doctors to prescribe it. 

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