Two groups joined in cancer patients and doctors yesterday to launch a sweeping attack on patent human genes. They filed a complaint claiming that those of breast cancer genes BRCA1 and BRCA2 , controlled by the diagnostics company Myriad Genetics in Salt Lake City, Utah, are illegal. Among other things, the plaintiffs claim that these patents violent speech right to free because they prevent patients taking the Myriad test to get a second opinion.
If successful, and it's a long shot, the case could undermine many gene patents.
This challenge arose from complaints originally filed by breast cancer patients who have opposed the Myriad control the monopoly on the tests and interpreting the risks associated with such cancer genes. The dispute is reported by the Public Patent Foundation, headed by Daniel Ravicher, a patent lawyer Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in New York, and the American Civil Liberties Union. They filed their complaint yesterday in federal court in New York against the US Patent and Trademark Office and others. One of the many researchers support lending to the cause's genome scientist and Nobel prize John Sulston of the University of Manchester, UK, which warns that "gene patents can have a deterrent impact on research , hinder the development of new genetic tests, and interfere with medical care. "
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