Appeal No. 2001-0545 Page 3
Application No. 08/442,423
of the evidence of record, and thus new grounds of rejection are herein set forth
under 37 CFR § 1.196(b).
BACKGROUND
The specification teaches a method for identifying “high-affinity RNA
ligands to basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF).” Specification, page 1.
According to the specification:
The present invention is premised on the inventors’ fundamental
insight that nucleic acids as chemical compounds can form a
virtually limitless array of shapes, sizes and configurations, and are
capable of a far broader repertoire of binding and catalytic
functions than those displayed in biological systems.
Id. at 5.
Basic fibroblast growth factor stimulates cell proliferation, migration and
induction of plasminogen activator and collagenase activities in vitro, and in vivo,
it is a potent inducer of neovascularization. Because of its in vivo angiogenic
activity, the specification notes that bFGF may not only be involved in wound
healing and tissue remodeling, but may also be involved “in some disease states
that are characterized by pathological neovascularization such as tumor
proliferation, tumor metastasis, diabetic retinopathy and rheumatoid arthritis.” Id.
at 12.
DISCUSSION
Claims 20-22 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 112, first paragraph, on
the grounds that they contain subject matter that was not described in the
specification in such a way as to enable one skilled in the art to which it pertains,
or with it is most nearly connected, to make and/or use the invention.
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