Persuasive Speech – Patenting Human Genes
1. Argument: Companies cannot legally patent genes
a. Race to decode human DNA- known as The Human Genome Project, in 1987
b. Started in Regan Administration
c. Over a decade later, Celera Corp took over
i. Decoding strands of DNA was very tedious
ii. Celera developed new technology to rapidly sequence genes, known as “shotgun” sequencing
iii. 30,000 human genes in existence, 8,000 have been patented and issued for money
iv. First patent in 1906, for a purified form of adrenaline
2. Body: Genes are a creation of nature
a. Newton’s discovery of Law of Gravity
i. Decoding human genes is a discovery, not an invention
b. Patents, in biology- with the right to exclude others from making, using, selling, or importing the claimed invention for a period of time
c. June 2013 Supreme Court finally made patenting genes illegal in Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics Inc.
i. Ruled in favor of Molecular Pathology
d. Myriad’s goal was to study two genes that have a high hereditary breast and ovarian cancer rate
i. Having patent to these genes allows them to figure out how to cure or treat these cancers
1. Would actually slow down the process of finding treatment
a. Eliminates the competition
b. Myriad can raise the price of treatment
i. Limiting the places that could use the treatment
ii. Limiting amount of people that could be saved
3. Body Opposing: Myriad argued that these genes were “defined and isolated by human inventors”
a. Makes these genes “Products of human ingenuity.” Claimed isolated molecules don’t just naturally occur in nature
b. When the first gene was patented in Parke-Davis v. Mulford the patent was upheld
i. Their argument was that natural substances when they are purified are more useful than the original natural substances
ii. This still does not justify patenting the gene for only their use
c. The court distinguished it’s legal to patent altered genes or the...