BRCA1 gene patent discussion – “Justices, 9-0, Bar Patenting Human Genes”
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/14/us/supreme-court-rules-human-genes-may-not-be-patented.html Interestingly, there is a BRCA1 pseudogene in the human genome. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19067158/
Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics
http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/12pdf/12-398_1b7d.pdf
“cDNA is not a ‘product of nature,’ so it is patent eligible under US code section 101. cDNA does not present the same obstacles to patentability as naturally occurring, isolated DNA segments. Its creation results in an exons-only molecule, which is not naturally occurring. Its order of the exons may be dictated by nature, but the lab technician unquestionably creates something new when introns are removed from a DNA sequence to make cDNA.”