Film at 11: Your Genes Are Your Own

[athelind]

Federal Judge Rules Against Patents On Human Genes

Your Obedient Serpent applauds this rare triumph of common sense over corporate interests. Patenting a naturally-occurring human genetic sequence is like patenting the gall bladder or the pancreas.

I could also frame an argument based on the Thirteenth Amendment: if someone else claims legal authority over part of your body, and asserts that only they can profit from it, that strikes me as a form of "involuntary servitude".

This might be a convoluted logic, but no more so than the arguments in favor of human gene patents.

Note that the peculiar nature of the patent claim asserts the sole rights to create tests for the genes in question, this means that Myriad Genetics sought to claim authority over that part of your genetic code that would contain the sequence, whether or not it actually does.

So, congratulations, everyone. Judge Sweet has declared that you're not owned.

At least, not by that corporation.

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Comments

[hydra-velsen.livejournal.com]

Not sure I agree with this. It would really hurt efforts to treat problems through genetic therapy.

Also might make my dreams of getting an extra eye on the back of my head problematic!

Also could you disable the Captcha thing for folks that are logged in? Its hard to post comments here for people with trouble reading those, like me.

[athelind.livejournal.com]

The ruling doesn't mean you can't patent TESTS or TREATMENTS. It just says you can't patent the GENETIC SEQUENCES THEMSELVES.

Oh, and please verify your identity.

[cpxbrex.livejournal.com]

I'd actually argue the opposite - that the secrecy around treatment patents is the biggest obstacle to treatment in the world right now. Science works poorly when other scientists can't check your work.