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Late last year, the nation’s highest court said it would consider a legal challenge to patents that biotechnology company Myriad Genetics holds on genes linked to risk of breast cancer. Now, Eric Lander -- a leader in the human genome project, a scientific adviser to President Obama, and the head of the Broad Institute in Cambridge -- has weighed in, filing an amicus brief.
The document, carefully described as Lander’s personal view, argues that Utah-based Myriad has patented products of nature, which are ineligible for such protection. The patents, Lander argues, are an “insurmountable barrier” to studying the DNA, with serious repercussions for medical progress.
Although the brief is filed “in support of neither party,” it is a strong critique of the reasoning that has been used to protect the gene patents that Myriad holds on BRCA1 and BRCA2, breast cancer risk genes for which it sells a diagnostic test. In his brief, Lander proposes a thought experiment, asking the court to consider what would have occurred if such restrictive patents had been taken on HIV.
“The patent...
The document, carefully described as Lander’s personal view, argues that Utah-based Myriad has patented products of nature, which are ineligible for such protection. The patents, Lander argues, are an “insurmountable barrier” to studying the DNA, with serious repercussions for medical progress.
Although the brief is filed “in support of neither party,” it is a strong critique of the reasoning that has been used to protect the gene patents that Myriad holds on BRCA1 and BRCA2, breast cancer risk genes for which it sells a diagnostic test. In his brief, Lander proposes a thought experiment, asking the court to consider what would have occurred if such restrictive patents had been taken on HIV.
“The patent...