Disease Genes Are Not Patentable: A Rebuttal of McGee

Jon F. Merz, University of Pennsylvania

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© Cambridge University Press 1998. Reprinted from Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics, Volume 7, Issue 4, October 1998, pages 425-428. Publisher URL: http://journals.cambridge.org/

Abstract

Dr. McGee presents a cogent argument for the patentability of the diagnosis of gene forms that are found to be associated with disease or other phenotypic manifestations. We’re convinced he’s wrong. An analogy will help explain why.