Patenting genes: Justices tackle big health issue - Business - Boston.com

"The Supreme Court seemed worried Monday about the idea of companies patenting human genes in a case that could profoundly reshape the multibillion-dollar biomedical industry and U.S. research in the fight against diseases like breast and ovarian cancer. Justices argued not only about snipping DNA strands but also about chewing the leaves of Amazonian jungle plants, the shaping of baseball bats and the ingredients of chocolate chip cookies as they tried to figure out whether companies can gain government protection — and profits — for their work with human genes. The ability to claim control of genetic information found inside every American could hang on the nine justices’ decision later this summer, a ruling that could affect the intersection of science and the law for years to come. 'The issue here is a very difficult one,' Justice Samuel Alito said. Abstract ideas, natural phenomena and laws of nature cannot be awarded patents, the legal protection that gives inventors the right to prevent others from making, using or selling a novel device, process or application. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has been awarding patents on human genes for almost 30 years, but opponents of Myriad Genetics Inc.’s patents on two genes linked to an increased risk of breast and ovarian cancer say such protection should not be given to something that can be found inside the human body. 'Finding a new use for a product of nature, if you don’t change the product of nature, is not patentable,' said lawyer Christopher Hansen, arguing against the patents. ‘If I find a new way of taking gold and making earrings out of it, that doesn’t entitle me to a patent on gold. If I find a new way of using lead, it doesn’t entitle me to a patent on lead.’ Several organizations, including the American Civil Liberties Union, the Association for Molecular Pathology, a number of doctors and researchers and some people at risk for hereditary breast and ovarian cancer, have challenged the patents."