Breast Cancer Gene Case Has Another Day in Court
By Eric Hoffman and Jaydee Hanson, Biopolitical Times guest contributors
| 04. 07. 2011
A three-judge federal appeals court heard arguments on Monday in a
case that could decide the future of human gene patents. The
high-profile lawsuit was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and
the Public Patent Foundation on behalf of a number of researchers,
patients, women’s health organizations and scientific organizations
against Myriad Genetics and the University of Utah Research Foundation,
holders of patents on genes known as BRCA1 and BRCA2 that are associated
with elevated risk of breast cancer. The plaintiffs argue that the US
Patent and Trade Office erred in granting these patents because genes
are products of nature, not human inventions.
The panel heard Myriad’s appeal of a decision strongly favoring the
plaintiffs that was issued in March 2010 by Federal District Court Judge
Robert Sweet. Whatever is decided by the appeals court, many observers
expect the case to continue on to the Supreme Court.
A few things stood out in Monday’s hearing. First, the judges were very
interested in whether all the plaintiffs actually have standing in the
case – that is, in whether they have...
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