Functional annotation and analysis of Korean patented biological sequences using bioinformatics

Abstract

A recent report of the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) showed that the number of biological sequence-based patents is rapidly increasing in Korea. We present biological features of Korean patented sequences though bioinformatic analysis. The analysis is divided into two steps. The first is an annotation step in which the patented sequences were annotated with the Reference Sequence (RefSeq) database. The second is an association step in which the patented sequences were linked to genes, diseases, pathway, and biological functions. We used Entrez Gene, Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man (OMIM), Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG), and Gene Ontology (GO) databases. Through the association analysis, we found that nearly 2.6% of human genes were associated with Korean patenting, compared to 20% of human genes in the U.S. patent. The association between the biological functions and the patented sequences indicated that genes whose products act as hormones on defense responses in the extra-cellular environments were the most highly targeted for patenting. The analysis data are available at http://www.patome.net.