A Near-Miss on Gene Patents in Congress
June 24, 2011
In March 2010, U.S. District Court Judge Robert Sweet ruled to invalidate patents held by Myriad Genetics on the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, mutations of which are associated with heritable forms of breast and ovarian cancer. The ruling was a huge boost to a lawsuit that challenges the patents on the grounds that human genes, 20% of which are currently “patent-protected,” are naturally occurring materials and thus should not be patentable. (BioPolitical Times)
