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The Ethics of Patenting the BRCA Genes for Breast Cancer Research
The Journal of Value Inquiry ( IF 0.545 ) Pub Date : 2017-06-07 , DOI: 10.1007/s10790-017-9592-y
John Jung Park

Breast cancer is the second leading cause of death for women after heart disease. Both BRCA genes are strongly associated with hereditary breast cancer. Mutated BRCA genes are thought to be responsible for a majority of inherited breast cancer cases. Those with BRCA gene mutations have a high risk of developing breast cancer. This high risk of breast cancer for mutation carriers has led many of them to have prophylactic surgery that removes the breasts. In Europe and elsewhere, such as in Canada, Myriad has had patents on isolated forms of the BRCA genes since the mid-1990s. It is important to note that the patent is not on the BRCA genes in one’s body, but BRCA genes that have been isolated or extracted from the human body so that they may be studied in the laboratory. It is only through isolating genes from its natural environment that we may then examine the nucleotide sequences composing the genes and determine whether there are or are not any mutations. The isolated BRCA genes may be patented in Europe even though their structures are identical to the structures of non-isolated BRCA genes found in the human body. Such a patent in law is commonly known as a product patent since it is a patent on a chemical or biological entity. A product patent is a patent on the product itself. Myriad first isolated BRCA genes by using a common laboratory method called RT-PCR. Myriad not only has product patents in Europe on the genus of isolated BRCA genes and all their various mutations but they also have patents on the use of such genes and on any conceivable test that detects for BRCA gene mutations in the

中文翻译:

为乳腺癌研究申请 BRCA 基因专利的伦理

乳腺癌是仅次于心脏病的第二大女性死亡原因。这两个 BRCA 基因都与遗传性乳腺癌密切相关。突变的 BRCA 基因被认为是导致大多数遗传性乳腺癌病例的原因。那些携带 BRCA 基因突变的人患乳腺癌的风险很高。突变携带者患乳腺癌的高风险导致他们中的许多人进行了切除乳房的预防性手术。在欧洲和其他地方,例如在加拿大,自 1990 年代中期以来,Myriad 已拥有 BRCA 基因分离形式的专利。需要注意的是,专利并不是针对人体中的BRCA基因,而是针对从人体中分离或提取的BRCA基因,以便在实验室进行研究。只有通过从自然环境中分离基因,我们才能检查组成基因的核苷酸序列,并确定是否存在任何突变。分离的 BRCA 基因可能在欧洲获得专利,即使它们的结构与人体中发现的非分离 BRCA 基因的结构相同。此类专利在法律上通常称为产品专利,因为它是针对化学或生物实体的专利。产品专利是产品本身的专利。Myriad 首先使用称为 RT-PCR 的常用实验室方法分离 BRCA 基因。Myriad 不仅在欧洲拥有关于分离的 BRCA 基因属及其所有各种突变的产品专利,而且还拥有使用此类基因和任何可能检测 BRCA 基因突变的测试的专利。
更新日期:2017-06-07
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