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Myriad Gets Mixed Decision in Supreme Court; Biotech Industry Fears Fallout

Supreme Court unanimously holds that DNA isolated from the human body cannot be patented but cDNA, which is created in a laboratory, can be.

The Supreme Court’s unanimous decision that isolated DNA is a product of nature and thus not patentable could undermine patents on biotechnology inventions that utilize DNA molecules, although the court’s support for the patentability of synthetic DNA may reduce the decision’s impact somewhat.

In its June 13 opinion in The Association of Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics Inc., the court followed the advice of the Solicitor General and held that while DNA isolated from the body cannot be patented, complementary DNA is patentable since it is not naturally occurring

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