WASHINGTON The Supreme Court ruled that human genes are a product of nature and cannot be patented and held for profit, a decision that medical experts said will lead to more genetic testing for cancers and other diseases and to lower costs for patients.
In a unanimous ruling Thursday, the nine justices declared that human genes are not an invention, so they cannot be claimed as a type of private property.
The decision invalidates a Utah company's patents on two genes that are linked to breast and ovarian cancer, and is likely to lead to several thousand other gene patents being tossed as well.
"This is a landmark decision," said Dr. Stanley Robboy, president of the College of American Pathologists. "Genomic medicine has the potential to be a cornerstone of medical testing, treatment and clinical integration, but the question of who owns your genes needed a definitive answer. Now we have it."
The broad reach of the court's decision goes well beyond genetic testing for cancer.
Dr. Wayne Grody, a UCLA medical geneticist, said he planned to add a host of genetic tests including genes for congenital hearing loss, spinocerebellar ataxia and various muscular dystrophies "right back on our test menu" for patients at UCLA.
Indeed, competitors to Myriad Genetics Inc. in Salt Lake City, which held patents on the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes and a monopoly on testing for the genes, cropped up quickly Thursday.
Stanford Cardiologist Euan Ashley, whose laboratory researches the genetic basis to heart disease, said he received two slickly produced marketing emails from laboratories announcing they were jumping into the niche of sequencing the genes.
"They obviously had it ready to go," he said.
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, writing for the court, left little room for doubt about the justices' view.
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Supreme Court rejects gene patents