Filed second chemoselective ligation patent

On May 30, 2003, Carolyn Bertozzi filed a second patent application also titled "Chemoselective ligation" (later issued as US Patent 7,122,703 B2), building upon and expanding the intellectual property protecting her chemoselective ligation chemistry innovations.

This continuation of patenting activity, just over two years after her first chemoselective ligation filing, reflects the rapid pace of discovery and refinement occurring within her laboratory during this formative period of bioorthogonal chemistry's development. As her research group continued to refine methods for selectively modifying biomolecules in living systems, new applications and improvements to the core chemistry required additional patent protection.

The expansion of her patent portfolio during this period paralleled the broader scientific impact of her work, as bioorthogonal chemistry techniques began to be adopted by researchers across chemical biology, immunology, and biomedical imaging. These chemoselective ligation methods would become essential tools for scientists studying glycans, proteins, and other biomolecules in their native cellular contexts.

This second filing in the chemoselective ligation family demonstrates the systematic and thorough approach Bertozzi took to protecting and developing her inventions, a practice that contributed to her eventual portfolio of over 100 granted U.S. patents and her induction into both the National Inventors Hall of Fame and the National Academy of Inventors.