supreme court rules genes may not be patented

[Ahldagor]

Originally Posted by Nikon [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

This will be the next part of the debate for more specific guidelines. Taking a gene, splicing out components, and inserting new components that do not occur naturally will constitute a synthetic gene (a synthetic allele of the natural gene). I have a close colleague that works in the gene therapy research field here in Colorado and this was his explanation. Technically, even though it is naturally occurring to start, once modified, it is an entirely new product and not a naturally occurring gene or allele, which then is patentable. While the laws of nature dictate how the nucleotide sequence works and reacts just like other genes, the newly created gene is not naturally occurring. This ruling sets the precedent that the genes (sequences) humans are born with cannot be patented, but lab-modified (custom) versions of the nucleotide sequences can be. The idea of patents in the US is to be able to protect something you 'create'. A modified gene, while resembling a naturally occurring gene with even slight variations, is in essence a new gene if it is not found in the human body. This is where it will get tricky when lab genes are passed onto offspring and somebody else owns the rights to that gene.

My understanding is that Myriad filed a patent claim for isolating a specific gene and recreating it in the lab then claiming it as their own. It was in essence the isolated gene itself that they were patenting as the gene does not occur naturally by itself, but rather as part of a whole. I'm not a biology expert and lean more towards lab chemistry and physics, but what was explained to me falls into line with my knowledge of American patent history and my bio-chem education.

so the argument is: it's different because we've synthesized one allele that would occur naturally from human action it can be patented because it (the allele) was synthesized from human action.

my gist of it anyway, and i could be wrong. looking at the set up and not specific points, but on a brighter note i think we're a few years away from fully privatizing the powers of a creator god...go humans?!?!

[Nikon]

Originally Posted by Ahldagor [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

on a brighter note i think we're a few years away from fully privatizing the powers of a creator god...go humans?!?!

The Court is establishing the foundation for the bureaucracy to manage it. With this and the brain mapping initiative we are possibly in for some interesting changes in our lifetimes.

[Hasbinbad]

Hopefully this will be used as precedent to stop patenting genetic information of any type. Shit is fucked up and bullshit.

[r00t]

I knew that a country without a patent office and good patent laws was just a crab, and couldn't travel any way but sideways or backways. -Mark Twain

[r00t]

mark twain, literally, patented himself, literally, thus literally making him the first to patent genes

[Nune]

Do you just read BBC News and post the thumbnails on the forums? lol

[Hasbinbad]

I digest a multitude of sources, and only bring to rnf the things I find most apt to piss the most people off and get them to post things that belie their true natures.

You can tell a lot about a person by what makes them mad.

[Stinkum]

Originally Posted by Hasbinbad [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I digest a multitude of Cheeto Puffs and Mountain Dew: Code Red and give a cursory glance to the Yahoo! homepage when I open a new Firefox tab. I only read the headlines and not the content of the actual articles, and then repost it here to try to convince others I pay attention to world affairs.

Fixed that for you.

[r00t]

young p99 redditor

[r00t]

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