ACLU Sues To Ban Patents On Genetic Testing, Could They Be Right?

The ACLU may be right. Painful words for a conservative lawyer. The ACLU is fighting patents on two human genes linked to breast and ovarian cancers. The ACLU's legal argument is that patenting pure genes is unconstitutional and hinders research for a cancer cure.They may be right. "Knowledge about our own bodies and the ability to make decisions about our health care are some of our most personal and fundamental rights," said ACLU Executive Director Anthony D. Romero. The lawsuit is pending in U.S. District Court in southern New York against the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Utah-based Myriad Genetics and the University of Utah Research Foundation.

Of course, there is another side. Myriad and the research foundation hold patents on BRCA1 and BRCA2, genes that are responsible for many cases of hereditary breast and ovarian cancers.
The ACLU's lawsuit based on the First Amendment challenges genetic patenting in general, noting that about 20 percent of all human genes are patented. While officials at Myriad declined to comment, you can expect the argument to be that without the financial protection of patents, research concerning genetics role in cancer will decrease. Patents give the company the rights to future mutations on the BRCA2 gene and the power to limit others from providing genetic testing. At $3,000 a test, the current system may keep some women from seeking preventive genetic testing.

No matter how the courts rule, the implications of the case on medicine and corporate finances are great. While the ACLU may be right, the cost to corporate America may be so staggering as to return genetic research back to the stone age. Only time, and our Supreme Court, will tell.