#Patents #HumanGenes #IP #BigPharma: "Should companies be able to patent human genes? For decades, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office said yes, ultimately granting patents on thousands of genes.

Two of the genes that were patented are BRCA1 and BRCA2. The patent office approved exclusive rights over the genes because Myriad Genetics was the first to “isolate” them, or remove them from the body and cell. The patents on the genes allowed Myriad to exercise a monopoly on the genes in the United States, shutting down other labs from offering testing or second opinions and increasing the price to thousands of dollars per test.

The ACLU opposes patenting that would authorize private entities to control access to something as fundamental to humanity as our genes. In 2009, we filed a lawsuit on behalf of 20 researchers, genetic counselors, women patients, cancer survivors, breast cancer and women’s health groups, and scientific associations representing 150,000 geneticists, pathologists, and laboratory professionals. The landmark case argued that human genes are products of nature, even when “isolated,” drawing on 150 years of legal precedent forbidding patents on laws of nature, natural phenomena, and abstract ideas. The Supreme Court agreed. It invalidated the patents, in a unanimous decision written by Justice Clarence Thomas on June 13, 2013."

https://www.aclu.org/news/privacy-technology/the-fight-to-take-back-our-genes