Federal regulators are catching up to some warnings we and others issued a year ago about hype in the genetic testing industry. We blogged about 23andMe, a company that offers genetic testing directly to consumers. We also devoted an issue of our newsletter to explaining how genetic testing works, and the implications for the medical….
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Supreme Court Says Genes Can’t Be Patented
It wasn’t even close. All nine judges in last week’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling said that human genes are not patentable. The rare 9-0 ruling went against Myriad Genetics, a Utah company that had patented BRCA1 and BRCA2, genes whose presence signify a much higher probability that their human hosts will get breast or ovarian….
Continue ReadingGenes for Rent: How One Company Plans to Profit From Your DNA
A few months ago, my monthly “Better Health Care” newsletter focused on genetic testing. While we all can appreciate the idea that knowing your own DNA can (eventually) lead to health advances, I also discussed how this abundance of genetic information can cause not only unnecessary expense and worry, but can yield painful knowledge for….
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