A US Congresswoman has introduced two bills challenging the country’s gene patenting system. Though unlikely to become law, they highlight growing concern that gene patents are blocking basic research and preventing doctors from carrying out genetic tests.
Under US patent law, when you patent a gene, you own the rights to all uses of the gene to detect or treat a disease. “The patent holder can prevent my doctor from looking in my body to see if I have that gene,” Lynn Rivers, the Michigan Democrat who introduced the bills, told Congress last week.
Other researchers can’t even do basic…
