[IP Hot Topics Podcast] Innovation Conversations: Walter Isaacson, Part 1
Clinton: SCOTUS Myriad Genetics Decision 'Terrific'
Can You Patent Human Genes? ACLU Says No
Yours, Mine and Ours (not yet!): An Update on the Patentability of Human Genes
Valentine’s Day seemed an odd time to report the subject but CNN posted a five minute story provocatively titled as “I Slept with My Half Sibling.” This recounts the story of a Connecticut social worker who had symptoms of a...more
We previously alerted readers to the fact that the most recent data compromise of 23andMe exposed data related to Ashkenazi Jews and individuals of Chinese descent. It is reported by Ars Technica, citing TechCrunch, that...more
We previously reported on the unfortunate data breach suffered by 23andMe last month and its implications. We never imagined how horrible it could be....more
A recent enforcement action by the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) against 1Health.io—which sells “DNA Health Test Kits” to consumers for health and ancestry insights—serves as a reminder that the FTC is increasingly...more
Gene therapy aims to treat the underlying genetic cause of a disease rather than only the symptoms. It involves the delivery of properly functioning DNA into a patient’s genetic material to correct an underlying genetic...more
The investments in Advanced Medicinal Products (ATMPs) that use gene therapy, somatic cell therapy, and engineered tissues for preventing, treating, or curing human diseases probably represent the biggest innovation in the...more
The Ministry of Science and Technology of China has finally issued the draft of Implementation Rules for the Regulations of Human Genetic Resources Administration for public comments on March 21, 2022, which gives more...more
I have written about genetic testing kits before, but this subject matter is worth repeating. I find that people don’t always understand the consequences when sending a swab to a genetic testing company. Consumer Reports...more
2021 was a fascinating year in biotech, especially for legal issues. Of course, 2021, as the second year of a global pandemic, must be viewed in context with 2020....more
Last month, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 41, the Genetic Information Privacy Act (“GIPA”), a law that regulates “direct-to-consumer genetic testing companies” that handle the “genetic data” of...more
The Sunday edition of the Philadelphia Inquirer presented a set of stories which are becoming common in a world where Americans can buy DNA kits at the drug store and begin an online search for their ancestry. The sometimes...more
When it comes to SARS-CoV-2 infection (and resulting COVID-19), it seems our Neanderthal ancestors giveth and taketh away. Genetic material inherited from interbreeding between Neanderthals and early humans has been shown to...more
A promising new technology may make the diagnosis of cancer and genetic mutation testing as easy as performing a urinalysis as part of an annual physical exam. Cancer could be detected at its earliest stages, when treatment...more
The Fountain of Youth -- an enduring aspiration, particularly as the ravages of age reduce human faculties prior to leading inexorably to death. Reduction in sight is the human faculty that can have the greatest effect on...more
Over the past decade, genetic archeology has revealed two branches of the human family tree, one known since the 19th Century (the Neanderthals) and the other more recently discovered (the Denisovans, an Asian relative of the...more
Cancer of the appendix is a very rare form of cancer, having an incidence of 0.12 per 1,000,000 person-years (Siegel et al., 2020, Cancer statistics 2020 70:7-30). Incidence is rising (by 232% from 2000-2016 in the U.S.)...more
Svante Pääbo created the science of detecting Neanderthal DNA in archeological samples (and living humans) almost single-handedly (see Neanderthal Man: In Search of Lost Genomes). So it will come as little surprise to many...more
Claims Covering Human Engineering That Exploit a Naturally-Occurring Phenomenon Are Patent Eligible - In Illumina, Inc. V. Ariosa Diagnostics, Inc., Appeal No. 19-1419, the Federal Circuit modified its earlier decision...more
California’s “Genetic Information Privacy Act” (SB 980), vetoed on September 25, 2020 by Governor Gavin Newsom, would have established obligations for direct-to-consumer (“DTC”) genetic testing companies and others that...more
ILLUMINA, INC. v. ARIOSA DIAGNOSTICS, INC. Before Lourie, Moore, and Reyna. Modified opinion following Ariosa rehearing petition. Summary: The Federal Circuit modified its earlier decision and clarified the difference...more
Chemotherapeutic drug resistance is one reason cancer remains an unsolved clinical problem despite the efforts ever since President Nixon declared his "War on Cancer" in 1971. Cancer cells, due in part to the genetic...more
Case Summary- On March 17, 2020, the Federal Circuit found that patents claiming methods of preparing an extracellular fraction of cell-free DNA that is enriched in fetal DNA were patent eligible and not invalid under 35...more
The human tendency to identify with tribes of "like" humans (related by family, place of origin, or religion, among other bases) was perverted during the Twentieth Century (and in some places remains so today) into the idea...more
March 23rd was the deadline for the parties in Interference No. 106,115 between Senior Party The Broad Institute, Harvard University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (collectively, "Broad") and Junior Party the...more
ILLUMINA, INC. v. ARIOSA DIAGNOSTICS, INC. Before Lourie, Moore, and Reyna. Appeal from the Northern District of California. Summary: Use of a natural phenomenon in a method of preparation claim found patent eligible...more