Indian boffins develop holistic database

NEWS Indian scientists are building a database to record ancient holistic remedies used in the country for generations in an effort to prevent US scientists from patenting them for commercial purposes. The council of the scientific and industrial research has in New Delhi has invested a £250,000 in the project which should be up and running by June. The database will allow foreign patent offices to check if a pending patent idea has already been in use in traditional medicine. In 1996 there was outrage in India after a US company filed a patent on the healing properties of turmeric, a holistic cure that had been used in India for centuries.