The Australian Centre for Plant Functional Genomics’ first patent application has been accepted for grant in Eurasia. The patent covers salinity tolerance in plants and applies in Turkmenistan, Belarus, Tajikistan, Russia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia and the Moldova regions. [...] ’Gene patents are currently controversial but they are an important tool in biological sciences,’ Mr Gilbert said. [...] ’Patents are an asset that we can use to deal with large multi-national companies in the area of agricultural biotechnology,’ he said.