Defending the Body Corporate: Appeals Court Puts Gene Patents on the Stand

The latest chapter in the legal battle over gene patenting unfolded this week during oral arguments (MP3) made in a Washington, D.C., courtroom. A year after a somewhat surprising victory in a New York federal district court, a group of plaintiffs led by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Public Patent Foundation (PUBPAT) now hopes the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (pdf) will uphold the earlier ruling that invalidated patents on BRCA1 and BRCA2 --two genes commonly tested to determine risk for breast and ovarian cancers. [More]

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