Washington Post Wonkblog Discusses Myriad and BRCA Tests

The United States Supreme Court ruled unanimously on June 13, 2013, that human genes cannot be patented.  In the case of Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics, Inc., the Court found that Myriad had not created anything when it isolated the BRCA genes.  However, the Court also ruled that patents might be available for synthesized DNA, which it also referred to as complementary DNA (cDNA).    Immediately after the ruling, a number of companies signaled their intention to market BRCA tests.  Myriad has already sued one of those marketing a competitor BRCA test.  The Myriad litigation is discussed by reporter Timothy Lee in the Washington Post Wonkblog.  Lee focuses on the involvement of the University of Pennsylvania and University of Utah in the litigation by Myriad in which the company asserts it still has patents that will block Ambry Genetics from marketing BRCA tests.   Lee asks, “Why Are Universities Attempting to Limit Access to Breast Cancer Tests?”