Federal judge allows challenge to human gene patent News
Federal judge allows challenge to human gene patent

[JURIST] A judge for the US District Court for the Southern District of New York [official website] on Monday denied [opinion, PDF] a motion to dismiss a lawsuit challenging patents on human genes, allowing the case to proceed. The suit was brought by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Public Patent Foundation (PUBPAT) [advocacy websites] on behalf of patients and scientists challenging patents held by Myriad Genetics [corporate website] on the BRCA genes [NCI backgrounder], which are associated with hereditary breast and ovarian cancer. Plaintiffs allege that the patents are illegal under patent law and unconstitutional under the First Amendment, Fourteenth Amendment, and Article I of the Constitution [text]. The plaintiffs also claim that the patents are essentially a monopoly that restricts scientific research and patient care. In allowing the case to move forward, Judge Robert Sweet noted that the case has implications for the broader issues of patenting human genes:

The challenges to the patents-in-suit raise questions of difficult legal dimensions concerning constitutional protections over the information that serves as our genetic identities and the need to adopt policies that promote scientific innovation in biomedical research. The widespread use of gene sequence information as the foundation for biomedical research means that resolution of these issues will have far-reaching implications, not only for gene-based health care and the health of millions of women facing the specter of breast cancer, but also for the future course of biomedical research.

ACLU staff attorney Chris Hansen said, "[w]e hope this challenge is the beginning of the end to patents on genes, which limit scientific research, learning and the free flow of information."

Genetic research companies currently hold patents to approximately 20 percent of all human genes. Many of the patented genes are associated with diseases such as Alzheimer's and cancer. The holder of a gene patent can prevent others from studying the gene.

THIS DAY @ LAW

UN Security Council called for Israeli withdrawal from territories occupied in Six Days' War

On November 22, 1967, the UN Security Council called for Israeli withdrawal from territories occupied during the Six Days' War, and for respect of the right of all States in the area to "live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries." Read Resolution 242, which remains a cornerstone of efforts to achieve peace in the Middle East.

President Kennedy assassinated, VP Lyndon Johnson sworn inin

On November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. Later that day, Vice-President Lyndon Johnson was sworn in as the 36th President of the United States. Earl Warren, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, was later tasked with leading a commission to investigate the assassination. President Johnson received the final report of the Warren Commission on September 24, 1964. Read the Warren Commission Report.