Supreme Court Strikes Down Gene Patents

The Supreme Court’s decision in June that genes can’t be patented has far-reaching consequences for research and medicine — and for every one of us.

By Lisa Raffensperger
Jan 7, 2014 6:25 PMNov 12, 2019 5:00 AM
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The patent Myriad Genetics filed in 1994, laying claim to the DNA sequence of the gene BRCA1, wasn’t remarkable. It was one in a long line of some 40,000 patents on DNA molecules awarded in the past three decades, covering more than 20 percent of human genes.

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