The long battle has ended, whether private companies do have the rights to genetic material as the High Court of Australia was recently ruled a gene mutation case linked to cancer which cannot be patented.
This moved was due to a 69-year-old Queensland cancer patient survivor who have won her high court challenge against owning human genes by the corporations such as Myriad Genetics. After losing a federal court challenge, Yvonne D'Arcy brought her fight against a US-based biotech company to Australia's court.
Mariad Genetics was granted a patent in 1995 for the isolation of hereditary mutations in the BRCA1 and BRCA1 genes. Relatively, these have increased the carrier's risk of developing breast and ovarian cancer.
A matter of fact, actress Angelina Jolie, who is also carrying the gene, chose for her two breasts to be removed even though she wasn't diagnosed with cancer, while having her ovaries to be removed to reduce risks of cancers.
Respectively, D'Arcy had already appealed the Federal Court decision to the High Court. She argued the wrong process of confirming the validity of three of the 30 claims, Myriad Genetics held in patent law.
The lawyers of D'Arcy had made a complaint that the genetic materials were a product of nature, even if it was isolated from the body, still therefore it's still unpatentable or haven't granted by a government to sell in the coming years.
They even contended that allowing these corporations to own patents over human genes could crush and demolished the cancer research. These would also allow them to charge exaggerated rates for patients who desire to be tested for the BRCA1 mutation.
There will be a lot of scope to work on and more biological capacity to patent biotechnological inventions, but those attorneys and lawyers will have to closely at this and see what the consequences are, says Maurice Blackburn Lawyers.
