WobLog

Michael Crichton has an op-ed in the New York Times about the practice of companies patenting specific genes in your body:

YOU, or someone you love, may die because of a gene patent that should never have been granted in the first place. Sound far-fetched? Unfortunately, it’s only too real.

Gene patents are now used to halt research, prevent medical testing and keep vital information from you and your doctor. Gene patents slow the pace of medical advance on deadly diseases. And they raise costs exorbitantly: a test for breast cancer that could be done for $1,000 now costs $3,000.

Humans share mostly the same genes. The same genes are found in other animals as well. Our genetic makeup represents the common heritage of all life on earth. You can’t patent snow, eagles or gravity, and you shouldn’t be able to patent genes, either. Yet by now one-fifth of the genes in your body are privately owned.

The results have been disastrous. Ordinarily, we imagine patents promote innovation, but that’s because most patents are granted for human inventions. Genes aren’t human inventions, they are features of the natural world. As a result these patents can be used to block innovation, and hurt patient care.

Crichton ends his piece by noting that Congressmen Xavier Becerra (D, CA) and Dave Weldon (R, FL) have introduced legislation, the Genomic Research and Accessibility Act (H.R.977), to ban the practice of patenting genes found in nature.

Normally I'm a big supporter of the use of patents, but this sounds more like "abuse" than "use." Congressmen Becerra and Weldon are on the right track.