Supreme Court Clarence Thomas wrote the unanimous opinion against Myriad Genetics claim that it had a patent on the naturally occurring BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes that are used for its breast cancer tests.
See "Justices, 9-0, Bar Patenting Human Genes".
It is very heartening to see another case where dire predictions of strict ideology don't come true. The big corporation was overruled in its attempt to patent nature. Scientists in academia and other corporations should be allowed to access and use these genes.
If you're interested in all the details, you can find the ruling at http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/12pdf/12-398_8njq.pdf.
Showing posts with label breast cancer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label breast cancer. Show all posts
Thursday, June 13, 2013
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Art imitating life or life imitating art?
Last week, Zoe of the comic strip Baby Blues asked for and got a pair of pink cowboy boots. She was so delighted with them that she even tried wearing them in the bathtub.
I had never even heard of pink cowboy boots until today. At UMD I saw a student wearing them.
Did Zoe get them because they had become popular, or did the student get them because Zoe got them?
My wife informed me that pink clothing had become popular in support of the fight against breast cancer. When I typed "breast cancer" and "pink ribbon" into Safari's Google panel, it suggested "breast cancer pink ribbon merchandise". Following through on that search, Google found over 512,000 items!
My wife said that some of these merchants contribute some of their proceeds to breast cancer causes.
What's that saying about Venus and Mars?
I had never even heard of pink cowboy boots until today. At UMD I saw a student wearing them.
Did Zoe get them because they had become popular, or did the student get them because Zoe got them?
My wife informed me that pink clothing had become popular in support of the fight against breast cancer. When I typed "breast cancer" and "pink ribbon" into Safari's Google panel, it suggested "breast cancer pink ribbon merchandise". Following through on that search, Google found over 512,000 items!
My wife said that some of these merchants contribute some of their proceeds to breast cancer causes.
What's that saying about Venus and Mars?
Wednesday, October 03, 2007
It's a sad day in the funnies
The comic section of newspapers has come a long way from depicting the foibles of adults, kids, and animals and the feats of heros and super-heros. Nowadays we see more political satire such as "Doonesbury" and "Mallard Fillmore" and more real-life stories such as "For better or for worse" and "Funky Winkerbean". Now we get involved in the trials and tribulations of characters who seem to be part of our daily lives.
People have died before in the funnies, for example, Ellie Patterson's mother died some years ago. But today we get two signals that death has happened. Ellie's father's second wife finds him immobile and Lisa Moore's dream has a masked tuxedoed man coming to escort her elsewhere. It was hard to get up from the breakfast table without a lump in the throat or a tear in the eye.
People have died before in the funnies, for example, Ellie Patterson's mother died some years ago. But today we get two signals that death has happened. Ellie's father's second wife finds him immobile and Lisa Moore's dream has a masked tuxedoed man coming to escort her elsewhere. It was hard to get up from the breakfast table without a lump in the throat or a tear in the eye.
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