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Science 22 May 2009:
Vol. 324. no. 5930, pp. 1000 - 1001
DOI: 10.1126/science.324_1000a
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News of the Week

Biotechnology:

Lawsuit Challenges Legal Basis For Patenting Human Genes

Eliot Marshall

Patents have been awarded on human genes for decades, but until last week, no one had directly challenged the underlying idea that genes can be owned in a U.S. court. Now, a challenge has begun. A group of patients, doctors, and research professionals sued in New York City on 12 May to invalidate perhaps the most famous gene patents: those on BRCA1 and BRCA2, genes associated with risk for breast and ovarian cancer. The main argument in last week's legal filing in Manhattan's federal court is that BRCA1 and -2 are "products of nature" and should never have been patented.

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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)