news: The federal government in the United States has declared
that human and other genes should not be eligible for patents
because they are part of nature. This is a reversal of a rather
longstanding policy; the new position will have a huge impact on
medicine and on the biotechnology industry. The ruling is likely
to draw protests from some biotechnology companies that say such
patents are vital to the development of diagnostic tests, drugs
and the emerging field of personalized medicine, in which drugs
are tailored for individual patients based on their genes.
Opponents, on the other hand, say that genes are products of
nature, not inventions, and should be the common heritage of
humanity. They feel that locking up basic genetic information in
patents actually impedes medical progress. Proponents, however,
say genes isolated from the body are chemicals that are
different from those found in the body and therefore are
eligible for patents. But the government disagrees: It now
contends that the mere isolati