There is a loophole in the ban on patenting genes

Last Friday, the US government announced that researchers are not entitled to patent the genes they have isolated, because they are a "product of nature." Despite the obvious fairness of such a decision, experts expect that it will deal a serious blow to the country's medicine and biotechnology industry.

The roots of this decision lie in a 1998 lawsuit filed by Myriad Genetics and the University of Utah Research Foundation, which patented two genes, BRCA1 and BRCA2, on the basis of which women's predisposition to ovarian and breast cancer was analyzed for $3,000. In March of this year, the court sided with the plaintiffs – they included both private individuals and public organizations – and declared the patents illegal. And although Myriad and the University of Utah immediately filed an appeal, the US government took the court's decision as a precedent and finally found itself entitled to make the current unprecedented decision.

The question of whether genes can or cannot be patented has long been a hot topic of discussion, but since such patenting was not officially prohibited, thousands of genes were patented, and every fifth patent concerned human genes. It is unclear what fate awaits these patents.

Genetic research still remains a very expensive occupation, although it becomes cheaper over time. It is expected that many private biotech and pharmaceutical companies will consider research related to gene isolation unprofitable and either reduce their funding or stop them altogether.

There is, however, a loophole. If you isolate a gene and then modify it a little, then it will no longer be a product of nature, but the fruit of human ingenuity, to which patent prohibitions do not apply. Thus, genetically modified organisms and gene therapy methods remain under patent protection. As well as genes, into which their discoverer will "insert" additional information in the form of, for example, his name or email address.

Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru based on the materials of CNews R&D

02.11.2010