U.S. rejects human DNA is patentable - The Mundo.es

U.S. Supreme Court, the highest judicial authority in the country, companies will not allow patenting of human genes, a decision that will affect plans for medical and biotechnology industry.

With this decision, which was made public on Thursday and that the nine judges of this court have supported unanimously, the U.S. court resolves a dispute with Myriad Genetics Inc., which had claimed ownership of two genes related to breast cancer and ovarian cancer.

One of these genes ‘defective’ is the one who made Angelina Jolie recently took the decision to undergo a double mastectomy to reduce their high risk of breast cancer.

U.S. Supreme Court considers DNA is a product of nature . Therefore, although a company achieves not isolate or identify genes may therefore patenting.

The court left open the door, however, to be patentable synthetic DNA : “The complementary DNA can be patented because it is not naturally occurring,” Clarence Thomas in writing,

An intense legal battle

ditch U.S. court and an intense legal battle against Myriad, a society of biotechnology which has nine patents related to these two genes, which isolated during the nineties, and inherited mutations that make the person who has bearing a high risk of developing breast cancer or ovarian cancer.

The ruling was highly anticipated by research on genetics, a field that has had a major expansion since in 2000 was achieved in sequencing the human genome.

U.S. Supreme Court considers that Myriad “has discovered a gene important and necessary , but revolutionary discoveries, innovative and brilliant in themselves are not an application.”

Under that ruling “the laws of nature, natural phenomena and abstract ideas are fundamental tools for scientific work and technology that are not within the scope of protection of the patents “.

The Supreme Court itself

allow Myriad holds the patent on the DNA of a cell created artificially, it “has not been produced naturally.” In this case, “scientists in the lab have created something new,” says Judge Thomas in writing.

On its website, Myriad Genetics is defined as a leader in molecular diagnostics dedicated to the development and marketing of test to determine a person’s risk of developing certain diseases and advise when making a decision about the best treatments available.