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(Image source: The National Institute of Standards and Technology)
BY ELIZABETH HAGEDORN
In a decision that could have broad implications for biotechnology, the U.S. Supreme Court
is set to rule on whether a private company can patent genes.
The case centers around a suit filed against Utah-based biotechnology firm Myriad Genetics
which patented the BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutations back in the 1990s. (Via Nowgen Schools Genomics
Programme)
As for the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes — you may have heard of them before. They're what forced
Angelina Jolie to undergo a double mastectomy earlier this year. Women who inherit these
mutations are about five times more likely to develop breast cancer. (Via The New York
Times)
Myriad says it's allowed for second opinions and for thousands of other scientists to conduct
their own research on these genes. To strike down the patents, it says, would discourage
further innovation.
But critics, including the American Civil Liberties Union, say Myriad's patent on the
gene gives women no other choice but to pay the company $3,000 to test for it. Throwing
out the patent, would allow for cheaper testing. (Via Discovery)
James Watson, who discovered the double helix structure of DNA, had this to say in his friend
of the court brief: "The information contained in our genes lets us predict our future. . . . This
information should not be monopolized by any one individual, company, or governmen." (Via
Wikimedia Commons / National Human Genome Research Institute, The American Bar Association)
SCOTUSBlog's Lyle Denniston says there are two options before the court:
"If it clamps down too *** patent eligibility ... it will kill the financial incentive for
scientific innovation, but if it expands patent eligibility for such experiments too broadly,
it will scare off other inventors who might also make breakthroughs if research were not
inhibited by a patent monopoly."
Either way, what does this mean for you? According to NBC, not much. That's because —
"The science has now moved far beyond the clunky, whole-gene sequencing method that
Myriad uses so it's becoming less relevant. Companies can now sequence your entire genome
for you, and in a few years they might even be able to interpret the information in a
meaningful way."
The Supreme Court is expected to make its ruling sometime this month.