This article waslast modified on 11 February 2018.

Two genes called BRCA1 and BRCA2 can be passed on from parent to child and increase their risk of breast and ovarian cancer. Myriad Genetics has held US patents on these genes since 1998, giving them a monopoly over lab tests for the genes. We reported in a news item last year that the American Civil Liberties Union had challenged the patents, and on 30 March a US District Court ruled them invalid because Myriad had simply removed DNA that exists naturally in the body.

On 29 July 2011 a US Federal Appeals Court in New York affirmed the right of Myriad Genetics to patent the two genes, stating that the "isolated" DNA of genes can be patented because isolated DNA has a different molecular structure from DNA in the body.  We await details of the scientific basis for this remarkable legal decision. It is not known at present whether the American Civil Liberties Union will appeal to the US Supreme Court.