Breast cancer affects 10.4 percent of women worldwide. Last year, the American Civil Liberties Union and the Public Patent Foundation filed a lawsuit claiming that patents on genes are unconstitutional. In particular, they focused on two genes that may indicate patients at high risk for breast and ovarian cancer.
The lawsuit filed against Myriad Genetics Inc., the US Patent Office and the University of Utah Research Foundation, argues that the companies do not have the right to patent genes. Patenting the genes would restrict outside research on the genes.
The genes in question are BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes. The National Cancer Institute has found that women with either one of the genes are 3 to 7 times more susceptible to breast or ovarian cancer. If patented, the companies in question could try to profit off the genes and charge outrageous rates for gene testing.
People wanting to know if they are high risk for breast or ovarian cancer would not be able to afford the genetic test. This could mean that any preventative measures they could have taken were hampered simply because of lack of funds.
The lawsuit was originally filed on the basis that the genes could not be patented simply because genes are a product of nature and therefore should be subject to the public domain. In other words, companies shouldn’t be able to buy genes. It’s akin to patenting a person because they have black hair and blue eyes.
The lawsuit is important for the greater future of genes and patenting them. As it stands now, 20 percent of all human genes are patented. Should the ACLU win, it could mean a huge sea change in the realm of genetic research.
Currently, 1 in 8 women are diagnosed with breast cancer. New breakthroughs in drugs and treatment however, have made survival rates go up. It is a disease that is so varied and individual-dependent that a universal cure is extremely difficult to pinpoint. In the long run, further research on genes, moreover provide more opportunity to find a cure for breast cancer.
Written by Lani Shadduck
HULIQ.com
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