t gene patents: a gene is a product of nature, so it may not be patented; gene patents suppress innovation rather than reward it; and patents' monopolies restrict access to genetic tests such as Myriad's. A growing number seem to agree. Last year a federal task-force urged reform for patents related to genetic tests. In October the Department of Justice filed a brief in the Myriad case, arguing that an isolated DNA molecule “is no less a product of nature... than are cotton fibres that have been separated from cotton seeds。”
Despite the appeals court's decision, big questions remain unanswered. For example, it is unclear whether the sequencing of a whole genome violates the patents of individual genes within it. The case may yet reach the Supreme Court。
AS the industry advances, however, other suits may have an even greater impact. Companies are unlikely to file many more patents for human DNA molecules - most are already patented or in the public domain .firms are now studying how genes interact, looking for correlations that might be used to determine the causes of disease or predict a drug’s efficacy. Companies are eager to win patents for ‘connecting the dots’, explains Hans Sauer, a lawyer for the BIO。
Their success may be determined by a suit related to this issue, brought by the Mayo Clinic, which the Supreme Court will hear in its next term. The BIO recently held a convention which included sessions to coach lawyers on the shifting landscape for patents. Each meeting was packed。
31. It can be learned from paragraph I that the biotech companies would like______
A. their executives to be active
B. judges to rule out gene patenting
C. genes to be patentable
D. the BIO to issue a warning
32. Those who are against gene patents believe that_____
A. genetic tests are not reliable
B. only man-made products are patentable
C. patents on genes depend much on innovations
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