The Supreme Court should invalidate the patent on human DNA - The Washington Post

Article

"....the Supreme Court has a chance to rectify this genetic injustice. The justices will hear oral argument April 15 over a lower federal court’s decision that human genes can be patented. The case involves Myriad Genetics, which received patents in the 1990s for the exclusive right to examine any isolated DNA that contains the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes.....

".....Like many scientists, we believe that these patents never should have been granted and that the genes of the human genome, like other natural body parts, belong to their owners, not to companies seeking to exploit monopolies. If the court allows these types of patents to stand, it will put the endeavors of openly researching, preventing and treating lethal diseases on a lower level of importance than a set of ill-conceived property rights.
Because of Myriad’s patents, any American who wants to have his or her DNA tested for the potentially life-threatening BRCA mutations has to use the services of Myriad Genetics. There is no possibility of an independent test. Myriad charges about $3,000 for the testing, but hundreds of clinical laboratories nationwide could do it for less than $200......