WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court will hear arguments tomorrow on whether to allow private entities to patent genes they have isolated and identified.
The justices will review a 2012 appeals-court decision that allowed a biotechnology company, Myriad Genetics, to patent two genes it found had links to cancer.
The ruling drew protest from many in the medical and research community.
“Our legal challenge is based on 150 years of Supreme Court doctrine that says . . . products and laws of nature are not patentable,” said lawyer Sandra Park, of the ACLU, which is leading the judicial battle.
But Myriad denies its patents cover mere products of nature.
“Myriad created synthetic molecules of DNA . . . used to test patients for increased risk of breast cancer and ovarian cancer,” the company said. “Those synthetic molecules are different from what is found in nature.”