Breast Cancer Patients Declare Victory as Supreme Court Bars Patenting of Human Genes

In a major victory for women's health, the Supreme Court has ruled 90 that isolated human genes may not be patented. The case concerned the firm Myriad Genetics' patent on genes linked to higher risks of hereditary breast and ovarian cancer. The firm claimed it had the authority to stop all research on genes it owned to patents to BRCA1, or Breast Cancer One, and a similar gene, BRCA2 and was the only company that could conduct lifesaving tests revealing if women had mutations in those genesoften at a prohibitive cost for most patients. "It's a very important decision," says our guest Judge Robert Sweet, the senior federal judge for the Southern District of New York who originally invalidated Myriad Genetics' patents in the case now before the Supreme Court. "The issue of knowledge and freedom of genomic knowledge is something that will be critical in the years to come." We're also joined by Lisbeth Ceriani, a woman who participated in the lawsuit after her oncologist noted she was at highrisk for developing ovarian cancer, only to find out her insurance didn't cover the BRCA genetic test; and by Sandra Park, a Senior Attorney with the ACLU's Women's Rights Project and a lead counsel on the case. "With the ruling today, we fully expect much better access and much better options for patients, as well as for scientists who want to look at different parts of the genome," Park says. "They no longer now need to deal with patents on the thousands of genes on our genome when they're engaging in their scientific work."

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