lawsuit<\/a>, (.pdf) filed in the Southern District of New York, the First Amendment is at stake because the patents are so broad they bar scientists from examining and comparing the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes at the center of the dispute. In short, the patents issued more than a decade ago cover any new scientific methods of looking at these human genes that might be developed by others.<\/p>\n\u201cAll identifying of differences, including those that are found in the future by anyone to correlate with an increased risk of cancer, are patented. Myriad did not create any of the differences found in the genes. Nature did,\u201d said the suit, referencing patent holder Myriad Genetics of Salt Lake City.<\/p>\n
The ACLU, representing dozens of patients and researchers, said the case challenges the legality and constitutionality of granting patents covering the \u201cmost basic element of every person\u2019s individuality.\u201d The civil rights group maintains that, \u201cWhat is patented is the abstract idea that nature has made the two genes different in a manner that increases that person\u2019s risk\u201d of cancer.<\/p>\n
The patents at issue gave Myriad Genetics a virtual monopoly on such predictive testing for breast and ovarian cancer, according to the suit. Women who fear they may be at an increased risk are barred from having anyone look at their BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes or interpret them except for the patent holder, which charges about $3,000 per test.<\/p>\n
Myriad, which had issued a cease-and-desist order to Yale University scientists researching the genes, did not immediately respond for comment.<\/p>\n
About 10 percent of women with breast cancer are likely to have a mutation inherited from their parents in the genes at issue, according to the suit.<\/p>\n
Patents for exclusive genetic testing have also been issued for a host of genes, including those related to cystic fibrosis, heart arrhythmias and hemochromatosis.<\/p>\n
The Patent and Trademark Office first issued a patent for a human gene in 1982 to the Regents of the University of California in connection to a hormone promoting breast development during pregnancy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
health industry technology ACLU: Human Gene Patents Infringe Speech By David Kravetsfrom wired.com\/threatlevel\/2009\/05\/aclu-human-gene-patents-infringe-speech The American Civil Liberties Union is suing the Patent and Trademark Office and a research company awarded exclusive rights to human genes known to detect early signs of breast or ovarian cancer. The group claims the patents violate speech by restricting research. The novel case, if successful, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archive"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3265,"url":"https:\/\/reviewermag.com\/press\/2010\/11\/15\/legislating-against-truth\/","url_meta":{"origin":32,"position":0},"title":"Legislating Against Truth","author":"admin","date":"November 15, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"WikiLeaks Ban or Global Secrecy Act?Criminalizing WikiLeaks may well deny victims of war crimes international legal attention by helping to keep the crimes secret and thus may protect the perpetrators, notes D. H. Kerby. [From Middle East Online, www.middle-east-online.com.] Sen. John Ensign, a Nevada Republican, has proposed amending the Espionage\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "news commentary"","block_context":{"text":"news commentary","link":"https:\/\/reviewermag.com\/press\/category\/news-commentary\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/reviewermag.com\/press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/s-ENSIGN-large.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":11024,"url":"https:\/\/reviewermag.com\/press\/2014\/12\/19\/white-house-press-release-on-cuba\/","url_meta":{"origin":32,"position":1},"title":"White House Press Release on Cuba","author":"Reviewer Rob","date":"December 19, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"[Press Release]Cuba Calling[Yesterday was a busy day in the news. Sony announced a major motion picture opening it had scheduled for release would be scrapped because of terrorist threats, and President Obama announced he would end a five-decade-long Cold War institution: the isolation of the Caribbean island nation of Cuba.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "adventure central"","block_context":{"text":"adventure central","link":"https:\/\/reviewermag.com\/press\/category\/adventure-central\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6980,"url":"https:\/\/reviewermag.com\/press\/2012\/08\/11\/romney-announces-his-vp-mate\/","url_meta":{"origin":32,"position":2},"title":"Romney’s Choice For Running Mate","author":"admin","date":"August 11, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"a paper boat sinkingTweet by Lev Six, reprinted from his Facebook Paul Ryan's career is a sustained assault on freedom, humanity, and the Constitution. Voted YES on prohibiting needle exchange & medical marijuana in DC. (Oct 1999) Voted NO on funding for alternative sentencing instead of more prisons. (Jun 2000)\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "reflected news"","block_context":{"text":"reflected news","link":"https:\/\/reviewermag.com\/press\/category\/reflected-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/reviewermag.com\/press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/big-brother-311972_10151012777653506_228664405_n-300x244.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":593,"url":"https:\/\/reviewermag.com\/press\/2006\/01\/04\/the-worst-goverment-money-can-buy\/","url_meta":{"origin":32,"position":3},"title":"The worst goverment money can buy","author":"admin","date":"January 4, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"[Now that the evil butt-faced Republicans on the far-right are getting indicted and pleading guilty by the droves, as well as having their bedbuddies in the oil-gas-coal energy sector run unsafe mines and blow up coal miners as they return from Christmas vacation, maybe it's time for you to look\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "archive"","block_context":{"text":"archive","link":"https:\/\/reviewermag.com\/press\/category\/archive\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":12088,"url":"https:\/\/reviewermag.com\/press\/2015\/08\/10\/widows-10-a-free-update-the-waiver\/","url_meta":{"origin":32,"position":4},"title":"Windows 10, a free update, the waiver","author":"Reviewer Rob","date":"August 10, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"[Agreement]Holding Microsoft Harmless For What Its Windows 10 Update Does by Reviewer Rob As of two days ago, below is the legal doc you click \"Agree\" to when accepting Microsoft's free Windows 10 operating system update. Last updated July 2015 MICROSOFT SOFTWARE LICENSE TERMS WINDOWS OPERATING SYSTEM IF YOU LIVE\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "archive"","block_context":{"text":"archive","link":"https:\/\/reviewermag.com\/press\/category\/archive\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2320,"url":"https:\/\/reviewermag.com\/press\/2010\/05\/03\/the-use-of-human-subjects\/","url_meta":{"origin":32,"position":5},"title":"The use of human subjects…","author":"admin","date":"May 3, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"[Conspiracy]DOES OUR GOVERNMENT RESPECT HUMAN LIFE? The following article is from a file widely circulated on the internet. ~Editor PUBLIC LAW 95-79 [P.L. 95-79] TITLE 50, CHAPTER 32, SECTION 1520 \"CHEMICAL AND BIOLOGICAL WARFARE PROGRAM\" \"The use of human subjects will be allowed for the testing of chemical and biological\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "archive"","block_context":{"text":"archive","link":"https:\/\/reviewermag.com\/press\/category\/archive\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/reviewermag.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/reviewermag.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/reviewermag.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reviewermag.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reviewermag.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/reviewermag.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/reviewermag.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reviewermag.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reviewermag.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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