By: Judith Westman, M.D.
Professor, Clinical Internal Medicine
Clinical Director, Division of Human Genetics
On March 29, a U.S. district court judge issued a decision which invalidated patents (New York Time article) held by Myriad Genetics and the University of Utah Research Foundation on the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, the two genes responsible for strongly inherited forms of breast and ovarian cancers. The judge ruled that the patents were improperly granted because genes are a natural product.
