The Case Against Gene Patents
Last month, a federal court in New York handed a major victory to science and medical innovation when it ruled that patents were improperly granted to Myriad Genetics on two human genes associated with hereditary breast and ovarian cancer. We participated in the case supporting the plaintiffs—which included prominent medical associations, geneticists and patients—because we believe the patenting of human genes is wrong as a matter of science and as a matter of economics.
Under the patents granted by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Myriad had total control over the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes since the 1990s. No other companies have been able to do research on the genes without Myriad’s permission.