CGS-authored
A New York judge's opinion to toss out the patents on two breast cancer genes paves the way for high-tech gene sequencing to begin having a real impact on medicine.
The ruling by federal judge Robert Sweet earlier this week invalidated long-standing patents on two breast cancer genes held by Myriad Genetics. His basic argument is one that many researchers have been making for years: You can’t patent genes because genes are natural. But thousands of patents on human genes have been granted anyway.
"This is the moment when a lot of issues are crystallizing in the public's mind in a way they have not before," says Daniel Vorhaus, a patent lawyer at Robinson, Bradshaw & Hinson who also blogs at The Genomics Law Report. He says he has been fielding phone calls from people who would normally not be interested in genomics at all, many reflecting a general sentiment that companies that would restrict people's access to their own genes "needs to be put in their place."
The ruling may be overturned on appeal and is unlikely to have...
The ruling by federal judge Robert Sweet earlier this week invalidated long-standing patents on two breast cancer genes held by Myriad Genetics. His basic argument is one that many researchers have been making for years: You can’t patent genes because genes are natural. But thousands of patents on human genes have been granted anyway.
"This is the moment when a lot of issues are crystallizing in the public's mind in a way they have not before," says Daniel Vorhaus, a patent lawyer at Robinson, Bradshaw & Hinson who also blogs at The Genomics Law Report. He says he has been fielding phone calls from people who would normally not be interested in genomics at all, many reflecting a general sentiment that companies that would restrict people's access to their own genes "needs to be put in their place."
The ruling may be overturned on appeal and is unlikely to have...