Myriad elicits a genetics tempest
In his book Next , popular writer Michael Crichton created the evil biotechnology company BioGen that was sued by a man who lost ownership of his own cells during cancer treatments. After the court decided in BioGen’s favor, the company asserted its right to harvest his cell line, including those of his daughter and grandson.
Crichton, who also authored Jurassic Park , included an essay in Next titled “Stop Patenting Genes” in which he wrote, “When Myriad patented two breast cancer genes, they charged nearly three thousand dollars for the test, even though the cost to create a gene test is nothing like the cost to develop a drug.”