Supreme Court Decides Genes Can’t Be Patented

The Supreme Court has ruled that human genes are not patentable. In an anonymous decision, the Justices said naturally occurring genetics sequences could not be owned by any entity, though synthetic genetic code can be patented. The case has broad implications for genetic testing such as advanced breast cancer screenings, because currently, a single corporation owns patents on genetic sequences used in the tests. For nearly 20 years, Myriad Genetics was the only company who could perform tests for specific types of breast cancer because of a patent they owned that gave them a monopoly on looking for mutations of certain kinds of genes …