In what is widely considered a huge victory for common sense versus corporate greed, Judge Robert Sweet of New York City’s federal court district has struck down a pair of patents by Myriad Genetics.  Here’s the kicker:  the patents were for the breast cancer genes.  BRCA1 and BRCA2, the two genes that serve as markers for breast cancer, were discovered by the University of Utah and bought by Myriad, who run a service where they conduct genetic screenings to detect breast cancer risk.

In a way, it’s kind of shocking.  I mean, patent laws allow companies to raid seed vaults and just start randomly patenting seeds that have been raised for generations, and even wild seeds!  Still, there’s a lot of language to sort through, and the ruling was immediately appealed by Myriad’s legal team.  The final decision could affect thousands of patents of genes or things based off the human genome.

I’m generally on the side of more research to detect and cure these kind of illnesses, rather than less.  If someone had forced Salk to pay a license fee for polio, would we have eradicated it?

Tags: breast cancer gene cannot be patented, human gene patents overturned, Myriad Genetics, patent overturned, BRCA1, BRCA2, weird science, medical patents, Judge Robert Sweet

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