Who owns your genes?

The ACLU filed the case on behalf of patients, researchers, genetic counselors, cancer survivors, scientific associations representing 150,000 geneticists, and women's health groups, among others. It makes a simple but elegant claim: DNA should not be patented because it is a "product of nature" and thus cannot be owned and monopolized by a corporation.

No wonder plaintiffs and supporters of the case include groups as diverse as the March of Dimes Foundation, the Massachusetts Breast Cancer Coalition, the National Organization for Rare Disorders, the National Tay-Sachs & Allied Diseases Association, the American Medical Association, the Boston Women's Health Collective, Greenpeace, the Council for Responsible Genetics, and the World Council of Churches.

The danger of letting corporations patent human genes is that they can use the monopoly created by patents to deny access to diagnostic and therapeutic treatments to those who can't pay a premium. Patents on human genes also choke off a patient's ability to get a second opinion (before, say, removing ovaries or a prostate) and close off scientific research by other corporations or academic institutions.

The decision -- which is sure to be appealed -- has raised dire warnings from some corners of the pharmaceutical and venture capitalist sectors, as well as from the patent bar. They argue that patents encourage research and innovation by making it profitable for corporations to engage in the financially risky business of developing new diagnostic tools and therapies, and warn that the Court's decision will thus hinder innovation.

But this case is different. It's not about denying corporations the right to patent specific tests, methods, or drugs. These are inventions that deserve and will continue to receive patent protection. Indeed, the U.S. Constitution gives Congress the power to award patents in order to promote the "progress of science and the useful arts, by securing, for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their writings and discoveries."

Patenting genes, on the other hand, does not promote scientific progress but merely blocks all development of further testing and research.

No human being or corporation invented human genes. Arguably, that was the work of a higher authority and thus our genes belong to each of us. Neither corporations nor the patent office should be allowed to take that away.