What Makes Genes Patentable?

What's the News: Whether genes can be property is an ongoing controversy in the world of biotechnology, and last week saw the latest court battle in that war: Upon appeal, a suit brought by the ACLU charging that genes aren't products of human ingenuity

and thus cannot be patented was settled largely in favor

of Myriad Genetics

, the biotech company that has patents on two BRCA genes

. The genes are linked to hereditary breast and ovarian cancer, and plaintiffs charged that Myriad's exclusive test for the genes kept patients from getting second opinions. A detailed description of the court's reasoning can be found over at Ars Technica

. But for those of you who are thinking, what? someone else can own my genes?, chew on this: About 20% of human genes are patented or have patents associated with them, according to a comprehensive analysis

. Here's why.

What ...