THE BREAST CANCER GENE PATENT:
ACLU organizes cancer patients to sue.

In a federal lawsuit filed yesterday in New York, a group of plaintiffs, including cancer patients, and pathologists, have sued the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office over patents granted relating to the Breast Cancer Genes, known as BRCA1 and BRCA2. Although patents are not typically granted for naturally existing things, the patentee lab, Myriad Genetics, was successful in obtaining patent protection 10 years ago by arguing that in isolating and purifying the DNA, it had a hand in "creating" the genes.

Seeking to invalidate the patent, the lawsuit charges that the genes are a product of nature and should not be patentable. The plaintiffs charge that the the legal monopoly granted by the patents is preventing robust research into these patented genes, preventing qualified labs from providing independent second opinions on the patentee labs' results, and keeping medical testing costs high for patients wishing to test for the gene.