Hello teachers,
As promised at the GETed conference, we are starting a new feature at pgEd to help teachers and others keep up with the torrent of news related to genetics and society. In the past few weeks, the subject of gene patenting has been in the news, as the Supreme Court is hearing arguments about the patents held by Myriad Genetics and deciding if they are legal or not. We have a few articles and links below that provide some history (especially in the 60 minutes clip from 2010) and context for what the issues are before the Supreme Court.
“Patenting Genes” on 60 Minutes – 13 minute clip that argues both sides of the issue.
Nova’s “Are Gene Patents Standing in the Way of Personalized Medicine?” looks at the current case facing the Supreme Court, as well as provides some background on how it got to this point.
The New York Times documents the effort of a researcher trying to re-create what many believe is Myriad’s most valuable resource – the data about their customers and their genetics status. “DNA Project Aims to Make Public Company’s Data on Cancer Genes“.
How does pgEd keep on this particular subject? Check out Genomics Law Report for wide-ranging discussions about many issues around science and the law. We also like the SCOTUS blog; they do non-technical write ups that we find very helpful!