Can science be patented?

Scientific discoveries cannot be patented. Scientific discovery refers to the revelation of unknown substances, phenomena, changing processes, characteristics and laws that exist objectively in nature. Scientific theory is a summary of the understanding of nature and a broader discovery. All belong to the extension of human understanding. These recognized material phenomena, processes, characteristics and laws are different from the technical scheme to transform the objective world and do not belong to the invention in the sense of patent law. For example, it is found that silver halide has photosensitive properties under illumination, and this discovery cannot be patented, but the photosensitive film manufactured according to this discovery and the manufacturing method of this photosensitive film can be patented. Another example is the discovery of a previously unknown natural substance from nature, which is just a discovery and cannot be patented. It should be noted that although there are essential differences between invention and discovery, they are closely related. Usually many inventions are based on discovery, and then inventions promote discovery. The close relationship between invention and discovery is the most prominent in the "practical invention" of chemical substances. When the special properties of a chemical substance are discovered, a "practical invention" using this property arises at the historic moment.