Gene Patent Lawsuit Draws Comments
Posted by Marcy Darnovsky August 19, 2009
Biopolitical Times
Shameless promotion department: "The Battle to Patent Your Genes: The Meaning of the Myriad Case," an article by fellow Biopolitical Times blogger Jesse Reynolds and myself, has just been published in the new issue of The American Interest.
The article's impetus is the lawsuit filed in May by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Public Patent Foundation charging, in the words of the ACLU, "that patents on two human genes associated with breast and ovarian cancer are unconstitutional and invalid."
In its coverage when the lawsuit was filed, the New York Times commented that it "blends patent law, medical science, breast cancer activism and an unusual civil liberties argument in ways that could make it a landmark case." A number of other news outlets also covered the filing, and a smaller number has followed up since then.
Many of the online comments on news articles and blog posts about the suit express surprise that human genes can be patented at all, and support for the legal challenge against the practice. An MSNBC poll - one of those thoroughly unscientific online samplings - is nonetheless intriguing: It shows 88.4% agreeing with the statement, "No way! Patenting something natural such as genes is like patenting knowledge. It only serves to stifle medical and scientific advancements."
See also:
The article's impetus is the lawsuit filed in May by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Public Patent Foundation charging, in the words of the ACLU, "that patents on two human genes associated with breast and ovarian cancer are unconstitutional and invalid."
In its coverage when the lawsuit was filed, the New York Times commented that it "blends patent law, medical science, breast cancer activism and an unusual civil liberties argument in ways that could make it a landmark case." A number of other news outlets also covered the filing, and a smaller number has followed up since then.
Many of the online comments on news articles and blog posts about the suit express surprise that human genes can be patented at all, and support for the legal challenge against the practice. An MSNBC poll - one of those thoroughly unscientific online samplings - is nonetheless intriguing: It shows 88.4% agreeing with the statement, "No way! Patenting something natural such as genes is like patenting knowledge. It only serves to stifle medical and scientific advancements."
See also:
• ACLU Lawsuit Says Gene Patents are Unconstitutional, Biopolitical Times
• Roundup: ACLU Sues Over Breast Cancer Gene Patents, Science Progress
• The Gene Hunt: Should Finders Be Keepers?, Scientific American
• Academic urges ban on patenting of human genes, Canberra Times
• University, Myriad seek dismissal of gene patent suit, Salt Lake City Tribune
• ACLU information on the lawsuit