[doc30]

They can patent their tests, their treatments, medications, etc, even their created or hybridized genes. Just not the ones found in nature.

We've got patent holders who are gene-squatting to make money rather than doing legitimate research. It's not okay.

For craps sake, someone patented Hep C and now researchers working on treatments have to pay licensing fees to do research. Is it too much to ask that the Patent Office only issue patents for bonafide inventions and not mere discoveries of nature?

It seems to me that they have patented what someone could use to interact with the gene in question. To test for a gene, you must perform some type of chemical manipulation. If the gene is viewed as a chemical, then anything that exploits that chemical can be patented. It's not the gene that is patened, but any process that interacts with this gene to indicate its presence. That being said, I haven't read the patent to see what it specifically claims.

[Valpal1]

They are patenting the actual DNA sequences, proteins and sniglets, basically anything they can nail down. And then squatting on them, charging royalties to others who may wish to do research or testing.

It's getting out of control and congress needs to specifically remove the human genome from patentability.