WIPO ST.26 Breakdown - Part VII

We now move into the section explaining amino acids, the first portion of which is fairly redundant with the information in this post, as well as ST.25. For example, amino acid sequences must be disclosed from N-term to C-term. Furthermore, as with DNA sequences, if a sequence is circular the applicant must choose the amino acid in residue position 1.

One difference to note is that unlike in ST.25, residue numbering must start with 1. Under ST.25, applicants could include signal sequences which would incorporate negative numbering for the amino acids comprising the signal sequence. Under ST.26, this information will need to be incorporated into the Sequence Listing in a different manner to be maintain, especially instances where this information may not be present elsewhere in the application.

Like ST.25, if internal terminator symbols are present in a sequence, each portion must be assigned its own unique identifier and be included in the Sequence Listing separately. The exception being any portions that are fewer than 4 amino acids which MUST NOT be included in the Sequence Listing under the ST.26 guidelines. Under ST.25, these often-small peptides were easily incorporated into the Sequence Listing, however, greater caution will need to be used to ensure that none of these fragments are under 4 amino acids in length.

In the instance of modified amino acids, the unmodified residue should be included within the sequence itself with a feature defining the modified residue. If the modification cannot be represented by any other symbol an "X" will represent the position within the sequence.

We will further breakdown the inclusion of modifications in the next post, including the inclusion of D-amino acids. As sequences containing D-amino acids are now required to be included in Sequence Listings and these positions required modifications, ST.26 will result in significantly more feature information being included in Sequence Listings, which will increase the time spent preparing listings as well as the opportunity for error.

The next post will focus entirely on D-amino acid sequences as this is one of the largest changes to sequence inclusion requirements.

With implementation less than two months away, let me know if you have any questions.