Appeal No. 2006-2194 Page 2
Application No. 09/866,925
no longer exists. Cf. Ex parte Zambrano, 58 USPQ2d 1312, 1313 (Bd. Pat. App.
& Int. 2001).
BACKGROUND
According to the specification:
This patent application shows how two specific adjacent RNA
single-stranded sequences (called C1 and C2 – for Control
Sequence 1 and Control Sequence 2) interact with two distant
double-stranded DNA sequences (called T1 and T2 – for Target
Sequence 1 and Target Sequence 2) to form a tetradic relationship
which is called a “connectron.” The two distant DNA double-
stranded sequences (T1 and T2) must be on the same
chromosome in a genome and they must be between 1kb and
105kb of each other. The adjacent single-stranded RNA
sequences (C1/C2) can be on the same or different chromosomes
as the T1 and T2 sequences. The C1 sequence is identical to the
T1 sequence and the C2 sequence is identical to the T2 sequence.
The connectron acts to stabilize the double-stranded DNA by
allowing 30nm chromatin particles to form. Genes that lie between
T1 and T2 sequences when wrapped up in 30 nm chromatin
particles are not open to promotion and expression.
Id. at 1-2.
Moreover,
[c]haracteristically the adjacent C1/C2 sequences lie in the 3′UTR
of a gene. The T1 and T2 sequences do not lie within the
translated region of any gene. These sequences “surround” one or
more genes.
Id. at 2.
A “possible connectron” is defined by the specification as:
Any set of T1, T2 and C1/C2 sequences such that the C1 sequence
is identical to the T1 sequence and the C2 sequence is identical to
the T2 sequence. The promoter of some gene causes the mRNA
of the gene to be expressed. The mRNA is edited to eliminate the
introns. The whole mRNA including the 3′UTR can move about in
the cell or the nucleus of the cell. The C1/C2 RNA that is part of
the 3′UTR moves to the T1 and T2 DNA sequences. A triple-
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