SCOTUS Says Human Genes Unpatentable

[Hotfoot]

From the New York Times

Supreme Court Rules Human Genes May Not Be Patented
By ADAM LIPTAK
WASHINGTON — Isolated human genes may not be patented, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously on Thursday. The case concerned patents held by Myriad Genetics, a Utah company, on genes that correlate with increased risk of hereditary breast and ovarian cancer.

The patents were challenged by scientists and doctors who said their research and ability to help patients had been frustrated. The particular genes at issue received public attention after the actress Angelina Jolie revealed in May that she had had a preventive double mastectomy after learning that she had inherited a faulty copy of a gene that put her at high risk for breast cancer.

The price of the test, often more than $3,000, was partly a product of Myriad’s patent, putting it out of reach for some women. The company filed patent infringement suits against others who conducted testing based on the gene. The price of the test "should come down significantly," said Dr. Harry Ostrer, one of the plaintiffs in the case decided Thursday. The ruling, he said, “will have an immediate impact on people’s health.”

The court’s ruling will also shape the course of scientific research and medical testing in other fields, and it may alter the willingness of businesses to invest in the expensive work of isolating and understanding genetic material.

The decision hewed closely to the position of the Obama administration, which had argued that isolated DNA could not be patented, but that complementary DNA, or cDNA, which is an artificial construct, could. The patentability of cDNA could limit some of the impact on industry from the decision.

Myriad’s stock price was up about 10 percent in early trading, a sign that investors believed that Myriad had retained the ability to protect its business from competition.

“I think everybody that was paying close attention to this case pretty much guessed what they were going to do,” said Robert Cook-Deegan, a research professor at Duke University’s Institute for Genome Sciences and Policy, who has closely followed the case and the issue of gene patenting.

Dr. Cook-Deegan said he thought Myriad would now face competition for testing for the breast cancer risk genes.

“I think there might be some blustering or saber rattling, but I would be really surprised if they sue anybody for patent infringement for a diagnostic test,” he said about Myriad.

He said that there were only a small number of diagnostic companies that relied on isolated DNA patents to protect their business, and that the impact of the decision on the broader biotechnology industry might be limited.

The central question for the justices in the case, Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics, No. 12-398, was whether isolated genes are “products of nature” that may not be patented or “human-made inventions” eligible for patent protection.

Myriad’s discovery of the precise location and sequence of the genes at issue, BRCA1 and BRCA2, did not qualify, Justice Clarence Thomas wrote for the court. “A naturally occurring DNA segment is a product of nature and not patent eligible merely because it has been isolated,” he said. “It is undisputed that Myriad did not create or alter any of the genetic information encoded in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes.”

“Groundbreaking, innovative or even brilliant discovery does not by itself satisfy the criteria” for patent eligibility, he said.

But manipulating a gene to create something not found in nature, Justice Thomas added, is an invention eligible for patent protection.

He also left the door open for other ways for companies to profit from their research.

They may patent the methods of isolating genes, he said. “But the processes used by Myriad to isolate DNA were well understood by geneticists, ” Justice Thomas wrote. He added that companies may also obtain patents on new applications of knowledge gained from genetic research.

Andrew Pollack contributed reporting from New York.

Unfortunately, Rusters are still on the menu, because genetic code created by humans can still be patented.

[frigidmagi]

Still a good decision. Does anyone know what the vote was?

[Charon]

I was worried there for a minute.

As for the vote, article says in the very beginning.

Isolated human genes may not be patented, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously on Thursday.

[Hotfoot]

It was a unanimous decision.

[frigidmagi]

Duuurrrr. Sorry guys, I'm a bit slow today.

[General Havoc]

The reason most supreme court cases are split decisions is because the issues of law under review are incredibly complicated, fine doctrinal interpretations that were simply not considered when the laws relevant to them were being passed. Such cases as do not meet this criteria are normally handled off-camera by lower federal courts. As a result, on the rare occasions when the supreme court hands down a Nine to Zero decision, it's generally to send a message about just how STUPID one side of the debate actually is. Having Clarence Thomas, the paragon of corporate rights, write the decision, is an even greater message. This "I can patent your genes" shit is absurd on its very face. And the Supreme Court of the United States just proved it.

[Lys]

As far as i know, no patent law anywhere in the developed world lets you patent natural phenomena. DNA is a naturally occurring chemical, ergo it's not patentable any more than plutonium is patentable, even though both require involved processes to isolate them. Said processes are patentable, the chemical itself is not. It is fortunate that the Supreme Court agrees unanimously, but this really should have been settled at the patent office to being with.

Interesting point of the ruling, while Scalia sided with the rest of the court on the striking down the patent, he disagreed with them on the grounds, and so wrote his own decision, making this an 8+1.

Unfortunately, Rusters are still on the menu, because genetic code created by humans can still be patented.

How is that unfortunate? Synthesized chemicals have always been patentable, that's not going to change, nor should it change.

[frigidmagi]

How is that unfortunate? Synthesized chemicals have always been patentable, that's not going to change, nor should it change.

In this Hotfoot is referring to an element of a sci-fi game (Eclipse Phase) that he, I and several other board members play. It's a cyberpunk transhumanist game, so there are several types of human bodies available (called morphs) Rustlers are corporate created bodies that require medical treatment on a regular basis to prevent shut down among other things. It is not a happy setting.

[Lys]

Ohhh! Eclipse Phase reference! The system is familiar to me, though haven't had the chance to play it thus far. Even have a neat character idea: a rogue Jovian Intelligence agent out on the lam. i think you actually invited me to the game in question, but my Mondays already had a game scheduled. That's not longer the case, but there are other issues in its place. *sigh*

[Cynical Cat]

Ohhh! Eclipse Phase reference! The system is familiar to me, though haven't had the chance to play it thus far. Even have a neat character idea: a rogue Jovian Intelligence agent out on the lam.*sigh*

JOVIAN CAGE FIGHT!!!!

Tortoise, quick get the Amok Time fight music! We'll use the Klingon battle music for the intros and then switch to the classic Trek fight music when they start throwing down.

[General Havoc]

Cyncat, have I mentioned recently how much I hate you?

[Cynical Cat]

Cyncat, have I mentioned recently how much I hate you?

TWO FLATS ENTER, ONE FLAT LEAVES!!! TWO FLATS ENTER, ONE FLAT LEAVES!!!

[General Havoc]

You get ALL THE BORG, Molari! ALL OF IT!!!!!

[Lys]

TWO FLATS ENTER, ONE FLAT LEAVES!!! TWO FLATS ENTER, ONE FLAT LEAVES!!!

Jovians get to use to splicers, and if anyone in the Jovian Republic bends the rules, it's probably their intelligence service because that what intelligence services do. Just wish the guys behind Eclipse Phase had actually written the Jovian Republic in a mature fashion instead of making them into a childish fuck you to the Neocons. It's kind of like having caricature turn of the 19th century Jacobins in a modern day game: out of place and jarring. To tell the truth Jovians appeal to me for what they could be, not what they are.

[Cynical Cat]

TWO FLATS ENTER, ONE FLAT LEAVES!!! TWO FLATS ENTER, ONE FLAT LEAVES!!!

Jovians get to use to splicers, and if anyone in the Jovian Republic bends the rules, it's probably their intelligence service because that what intelligence services do. Just wish the guys behind Eclipse Phase had actually written the Jovian Republic in a mature fashion instead of making them into a childish fuck you to the Neocons. It's kind of like having caricature turn of the 19th century Jacobins in a modern day game: out of place and jarring. To tell the truth Jovians appeal to me for what they could be, not what they are.

I know they do. Havoc plays a hardcore bioconservative Jovian loyalist in Flat despite having other options. The two Flats was just to make the Thunderdome reference work. And I think they did a fairly decent job on the Jovians. It's an oligarchy with a conservative, fairly religious society. That's realistic. We've had a ton of them in real life. It's the love they give the anarchists hand jobs they give the Randroids where Eclipse Phase gets unbelievable.

[General Havoc]

I got to admit, half the reason I made a Jovian was as a spiritual middle finger to whoever designed the Eclipse Phase fluff. The other half was the fact that I'm an asshole who likes to find the character that will annoy everyone the most. You'd be astonished how often these things dovetail. I admit, I didn't know a great deal about Jovian society when I made the character, mostly because I could only stomach reading the fluff in small bursts. I thus also made one based on what I felt the Jovians could be, rather than what they were.

[Hotfoot]

At the risk of turning this into a gaming sub-thread, yes, some of the background material of Eclipse Phase was clearly written by people who both lack subtlety and sense. They've done a better job with Jupiter and religion in the supplement books than the main book did, but it was still pretty lame.

[frigidmagi]

Fuck, I did a better job writing up religion for Eclipse Phase.

[Comrade Tortoise]

Ohhh! Eclipse Phase reference! The system is familiar to me, though haven't had the chance to play it thus far. Even have a neat character idea: a rogue Jovian Intelligence agent out on the lam.*sigh*

JOVIAN CAGE FIGHT!!!!

Tortoise, quick get the Amok Time fight music! We'll use the Klingon battle music for the intros and then switch to the classic Trek fight music when they start throwing down.

Happy to oblige:

[youtube][/youtube]

I've gotta admit, they did indeed give wonderful handjobs to actual anarchists. The supplements did a better job with Jupiter, but it is still a pretty obvious "fuck you" to neoconservatives. The rest is reasonably realistic. The PC is basically the RIAA/MPAA/Weylan-Yutani in space. A pretty realistic corporate plutocracy. The Titanians are odd and insane, but oddly workable. Once you get past the heavy petting in the fluff and look at how the system works, it does a reasonably good job approximating what Scandinocanada would look like in a post-scarcity economy with instantaneous population-wide communication. Complete with the Randroid counter-culture and strange parliamentary politics. There are some things about it that are...wonky. Their diplomatic corps for example works on civil service rotations, and the fickleness of a population can means some wide policy shifts sometimes.

Anyway, back to the original topic:

Yeah.... yeah.... Unanimous SCOTUS decisions are really rare and they do generally consist of a "fuck you" to the person on one side for being transparently stupid. I mean, this shit has been black letter law for a long time. That the Patent Office ever permitted the offending patents to pass at all means that the department probably needs to be purged because they are flagrantly not in accordance with the law.