INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

Genes Are Still Patentable, Federal Appeals Court Rules

An appellate court reinstated Myriad Genetics exclusive rights to research two cancer-linked genes, leaving others researching these genes out in the cold.

GENOMIC RESEARCH

Disparities in Health: Biomedical Research and the Latino Community

Only by making sure that every community’s voice is heard, can we be sure that personalized genetic medicine will truly be personalized.

GENOMICS

Addressing Race and Genetics

Personalized medicine holds great potential to improve the efficacy and reduce the costs of care, but there are major hurdles to ensuring access to this new form of medicine is open to all.

INVESTING IN INNOVATION

Investing in Innovation Pays Off

Science and technology are what move our economy forward. Two new studies show the pay off from federal investments in life science innovation is off the charts.

GENOMICS AND THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD

Fishing for Funding

The marriage between biology and computer science is changing the scientific method: Collect the data first, figure out what you’re searching for later. Scientific cultures are clashing and it may be influencing who gets grant funding.

BIOETHICS

One Step Closer to Designer Babies

A new approach to testing the genes of early-stage fetuses could radically alter the experience of pregnancy and parenting from as early as five weeks, leading to a potentially dangerous moral quandary.

GENOMICS

Synthetic Biology Grows Up

The emerging technology is cause for celebration but risks overreaction that could inhibit innovation.

FDA Intervention Shelves Plan for Drugstore Genome Tests

Earlier this week, Pathway Genomics was poised to begin selling its Insight genetic test kit at 6,000 Walgreens pharmacies nationwide, but then the Food and Drug Administration put its foot down. On May 10, just after Walgreens and Pathway made [...]

Crime Lab DNA Databases Under the Microscope

Researchers in the field of DNA forensics are calling for the FBI to improve the quality of its sizable genetic database by letting them look under the hood. As Osagie Obasogie explains, reviews of a handful of state crime lab [...]

GENOMICS

When Scientists Pick a Fight with the Law

The chance of coincidental matches in crime databases should be spectacularly rare. But reports from state databases indicate that might not be the case. The feds need to open up their data to figure out what’s going on and make law enforcement more transparent.

GENOMICS

Court Rules that DNA Is Information, Not Intellectual Property

A lawsuit argued that patents owned by Myriad Genetics on two genes connected to breast and ovarian cancer stunt genetic research and limit access to health care for women. The ruling said that genes can’t be patented.

Genomic Medicine on the March

On Thursday, the Secretary’s Advisory Committee for Genetics, Health, and Society at the Department of Health and Human Services will meet to discuss a set of reports on the future of genomic medicine. The meeting will cover a range of [...]

GENOMICS

Genetic Testing 101

With new opportunities come questions about how to interpret the avalanche of genetic information and how to protect it from improper use.

Green Light for Gene Patent Lawsuit

A U.S. District Court judge ruled Monday that a gene patent lawsuit filed against the Patent and Trademark Office could move forward. At issue are patents exclusively licensed by Myriad Genetics for the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes. Mutations of the [...]

GENOMICS

DNA Confidential

Most states refrain from prescribing rules governing partial match reporting or familial searching in statute, regulation, or well-publicized memoranda. This report represents the first effort to catalog in a comprehensive manner state policies and practices regarding partial match reporting and familial searching.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

Do Gene Patents Hurt Research?

Controversies over gene patents often ignore the lack of evidence that they impede basic research. The more important concern may be the negative impact of the push to commercialize science.

Paving the Way for Personalized Medicine

There are promising developments heralding the arrival of personalized medicine, a new medical field where the results of genetic tests or other biomarker assessments are used to tailor drugs and treatments to individual patients.

SCIENCE POLICY

Science and Values In One Nominee

Jonathan Moreno applauds President Obama’s intended pick for NIH director: Dr. Francis Collins, a researcher and leader who embraces science and ethics.

How Reliable Is that Genetic Test? Experts Propose a Registry With the Answer

There’s not enough transparency in the world of genetic testing, argue experts from the Genetics & Public Policy Center, so it’s time for a registry of the 1,700 or so currently available. “Establishing a registry is a critical first step [...]

AGRICULTURE

Igniting Agricultural Innovation

Agricultural innovations through modern biotechnology have delivered significant economic, environmental, health and consumer benefits in recent years, but the full potential is even greater.