Supreme Court Gene Issue

   WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court announced on Friday that it would decide whether human genes may be patented. The case the court added to its docket concerns patents held by Myriad Genetics, a Utah company, on genes that correlate with increased risk of hereditary breast and ovarian cancer.

   The patents were challenged by scientists and doctors who said that their research and ability to help patients had been frustrated...

   The legal question for the justices is whether isolated genes are “products of nature” that may not be patented or “human-made inventions” eligible for patent protection. A divided three-judge panel of a federal appeals court in Washington ruled for the company. The three judges each issued an opinion, and a central dispute was whether isolated genes are sufficiently different from ones in the body to allow them to be patented.

   “The isolated DNA molecules before us are not found in nature,” wrote Judge Alan D. Lourie, who was in the majority. “They are obtained in the laboratory and are man-made, the product of human ingenuity.”

   This is part of an article, which was written November 30th by Adam Liptak on the New York Times website (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/01/us/supreme-court-takes-up-question-of-patents-in-gene-research.html?ref=us).

   I found the whole idea very interesting, especially after watching Gattaca, a 1997 sci-fi film about genetically enhanced humans. Technology is becoming advanced enough to be able to tell us which gene does what, causes which disease, and can be changed to make things better. It is a really cool idea, but at what cost?

   So, if it becomes 'legal', patented, and a 'human-made invention' to alter one gene, what will humans be considered when more of their genes are altered than are not? Will that make the person a 'human-made invention'?
   There could potentially be future problems with gene alterations as well. If it becomes widely popular, and everyone begins getting the same genes altered, then people will become similar in more areas than is healthy. The Markab race from Babylon 5 discovered this when the Drafa Plague -- an airborne virus -- attacked them. They had cloned themselves to reproduce (because sexual reproduction was no longer an option), so all their genes and immune systems were identical. Thus, when the Drafa Plague attacked, they all succumbed and the whole race died.
   Though these are somewhat futuristic and exaggerated examples, they are possibly warnings against altering human genes. Every invention has its pros and cons, and most can be used for good or evil. We need to weigh the cost, and not simply allow it because it's "scientific".