i’m thinking abt current GMO regulations, like how independent farmers will get in trouble for “stealing” if their crops contain patented DNA from a nearby company, but with wild birds eating and pooping on both farms it’s inevitable that some of the patented seeds are going to end up on other farms.
do companies in rtts “own” the DNA of the GMH they create? are there restrictions around, like, GMH going to natal labs to create genetically related offspring with partners they’re not genetically compatible with? my guess is that at the beginning of the GMH/designer baby industry that was a big problem, but since then laws have been passed that give GMH the right to do what they want with their DNA.
Before we even get to GMH: Genetic copyright laws in human polities are generally controlled by agreements made with the Worlds Trade Organization, though the length of copyright protections varies between regions and a minority of polities are not members of the WTO. In most WTO member polities, including Jovia, a non-human organism's complete genetic code can be copyright, but individual genes and gene sequences cannot. In theory, this allows a company to unambiguously own the original creations of their lab and protect them from being cloned for profit by other entities, but not prevent others from breeding that organism or using its individual genetic elements to make new organisms.
This policy has had moderate success at reducing monopolies in agricultural and chemical GMO industries. However, for GMO pets, it has led to labs overwhelmingly offering pet lines that are all sterile clones of a proprietary pool of copyrighted genomes, with phenotypic differences induced by chemicals or gene therapy early in development. Some may have grafted chimeric elements also introduced in early development that must be cultivated separately. This allows companies maximum control over their product and makes "jailbreaking" or breeding the organisms they produce out of reach for the average pet owner.
Jailbreaking pet practices do exist though, and older GMO pet strains that have stuck around are usually being bred by hobbyists and fancier clubs. Welfare practices in these circles vary wildly as they are not nearly as regulated as registered gene labs. Some people in the hobby take the health and longevity of their pets very seriously; some are more interested in exaggerating their desirable traits beyond functionality and/or turning a petty profit. Chabbits are a strange exception as a GMO pet that has seen widespread adoption as livestock, which makes their fancier institutions larger and subject to agricultural regulations.
The majority of GMO pets in Jovia are also imports, with the largest GMO pet companies being based in Brazil, China, and the Martian Free States. Spacers tend to favor smaller pets because they have smaller living spaces, and pets larger than a dog are generally banned from import. Some pet varieties even get import bans based on ethical concerns, too, if you could believe it.
As for GMH, according to WTO and Worlds Health Organization agreements, any genome containing human DNA sources cannot be copyrighted. Also, any organism containing human DNA sources needs to follow GMH laws, for which adherence to generally requires a very high percentage of human DNA. But, unlike the other GMO industries, GMH natal labs don't need copyright to secure profits, because the GMH they produce often need their services to have viable offspring. Natal labs have literally made a significant portion of their own customer base, but that customer base also has human rights to self determination and reproduction, and their reproduction frequently requires natal labs. Regulating this issue and de-privatizing natal labs is one of the more fraught political battlegrounds of RttS modern humanity.
