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The sequence that codes the proteins is just as naturally occurring as the original DNA itself, which the court held couldn’t be patented because it was naturally occurring. The distinction is, to put it bluntly, a lawyer’s distinction, not a scientist’s. We are accustomed to disparaging law-office history. The Myriad Genetics case is giving us law-office biology.
Preserving Research

But if the court’s formalism is a bit unconvincing, its desire to preserve something capable of being patented in genetic research makes a certain amount of sense. Much basic science is and remains government funded, but a large and ever-increasing share of scientific advances connected to particular genes and diseases is dependent on private financing -- driven, of course, by the desire to produce drugs and get them to market.

Patent is a form of intellectual property, and intellectual property is increasingly one of the basic drivers of the U.S. economy. From big pharma to computer technology to Hollywood films, exports that depend upon the protection of intellectual property lie at the heart of American competitiveness in global markets. For the Supreme Court to be too relaxed about defining intellectual property might send a global message that our government may not be vigilant about protecting intellectual property abroad.

Posted on June 17, 2013 by Hanna Teal

"If we lose the battle over intellectual property, it's over," Mr. Nelson warned. "Being a professor will no longer be a professional career or a professional identity," and faculty members will instead essentially find themselves working in "a service industry," he said.

June 12, 2013
By Peter Schmidt