In August of 2012 a federal court made a very controversial ruling. The court ruled in favor of Myriad Genetics, officially giving them a patent on the genes “BRAC1” and “BRAC2”. These two genes have been found to be heavily associated with the development of breast and ovarian cancer. The lawsuit argued that allowing a patent on genetic material would be an injustice to the medical field. The patent prevents future research on the genes to be done by other groups. The court, did however, deny the ability of the company to patent methods of analyzing the DNA sequences.
The judge in the case was for the patent because she believes that all products essentially come from nature. The judge stated that she believes the genes are products of man and rejected the opposing side’s view that genes come from nature and therefore should not be allowed to be patented.
This ruling has not been received well in the medical community. The American Medical Association, the March of Dimes and several other notable organizations have public spoken against this ruling. Dr. James Watson, a genetics wizard, has also publicly stated his opposition. Dr. Watson believes that the court failed to appreciate the true nature of a gene, and does not believe that the courts should have any control over the human genome.
Personally I agree with Dr. Watson. It seems that the court systems have done all American women a great injustice. These two genes have the potential to save numerous lives. However, they must still be researched in more depth. There have been instances of women undergoing radical mastectomies simply based on the presence of these so called “cancer genes.” Allowing one company to have a monopoly on these genes leads to a lack of an ability to recreate experiments that they have performed. It essentially takes away the checks and balance system of science. Without any one being allowed to check Myraid’s results there is the potential for them to falsify data in order to increase profits. Medicine, including medical research, should always be centered around the patients best interest. I firmly believe that patents should not be allowed on genetic material. Patents are usually for inventions, Myraid did not invent BRAC 1 or BRAC2, they simply discover the fact that they exist. These genes should be considered to be discoveries, and wonderful ones at that, however they are by no means intellectual property.
In August of 2012 a federal court made a very controversial ruling. The court ruled in favor of Myriad Genetics, officially giving them a patent on the genes “BRAC1” and “BRAC2”. These two genes have been found to be heavily associated with the development of breast and ovarian cancer. The lawsuit argued that allowing a patent on genetic material would be an injustice to the medical field. The patent prevents future research on the genes to be done by other groups. The court, did however, deny the ability of the company to patent methods of analyzing the DNA sequences.
The judge in the case was for the patent because she believes that all products essentially come from nature. The judge stated that she believes the genes are products of man and rejected the opposing side’s view that genes come from nature and therefore should not be allowed to be patented.
This ruling has not been received well in the medical community. The American Medical Association, the March of Dimes and several other notable organizations have public spoken against this ruling. Dr. James Watson, a genetics wizard, has also publicly stated his opposition. Dr. Watson believes that the court failed to appreciate the true nature of a gene, and does not believe that the courts should have any control over the human genome.
Personally I agree with Dr. Watson. It seems that the court systems have done all American women a great injustice. These two genes have the potential to save numerous lives. However, they must still be researched in more depth. There have been instances of women undergoing radical mastectomies simply based on the presence of these so called “cancer genes.” Allowing one company to have a monopoly on these genes leads to a lack of an ability to recreate experiments that they have performed. It essentially takes away the checks and balance system of science. Without any one being allowed to check Myraid’s results there is the potential for them to falsify data in order to increase profits. Medicine, including medical research, should always be centered around the patients best interest. I firmly believe that patents should not be allowed on genetic material. Patents are usually for inventions, Myraid did not invent BRAC 1 or BRAC2, they simply discover the fact that they exist. These genes should be considered to be discoveries, and wonderful ones at that, however they are by no means intellectual property.
Original Article: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/17/business/court-reaffirms-right-of-myriad-genetics-to-patent-genes.html?_r=0
Supporting Article: http://forward.com/articles/174855/jewish-breast-cancer-brca-gene-in-spotlight-as-sup/?p=1
Patents should not be allowed on things that can save lives. Patenting something that exhist in someone's body is even more rediculous and it amazes me people can be so selfish to patent something that can lead to saving people's lives. This reminds me of medical companies patent medications or certain chemicals in the drugs. In the time it takes this company to discover a cure or treatment for these cancers, another scientist may have been able to figure it out sooner and will have saved lives but these companies don't care about the people they only care about the money they will make if they are the only ones to have access to it.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what you are saying, something so beneficial should have some sort of free-use to it. But with all the research and development that it costs to produce a product like that, companies want to be able to make money off of it. Everything is always about money. As consumers we are just forced to deal with it.
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