“The human genome is not something that someone designed and built. It’s part of the character of the human race,” said Allore. “Our genetic patrimony is something that is shared by the whole human community.”
Allore reaches back to the fight against slavery to make the case against patenting genes. “We began to realize that human beings should not own other human beings,” he said. “Here, we’re saying this is a fundamental component of what it means to be human and therefore isn’t open to being owned by one person or another, or one company or another.”
Myriad Genetic’s Inc. was granted patents on the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes in the mid-1990s. About five per cent of women carry mutations to these genes, and 24 in 10,000 have mutations that dramatically increase their risk for breast and ovarian cancer. Actress Angelina Jolie recently underwent a double mastectomy when her BRCA test came back positive for the mutation.
By claiming ownership over the genes themselves, the Utah-based based company was able to prevent others from offering a blood test for BRCA mutations. Myriad charged $3,000 for its test.
The Ontario government has refused to pay for Myriad’s test under the Ontario Health Insurance Plan.
A comparable test is provided by Genetic Diagnostic Laboratories in Ontario, licensed by the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, for about a third of Myriad’s price.
The Association of Molecular Pathology and others in the U.S. scientific community challenged Myriad’s patent in court. The court ruled against the patents on June 13.
“The human genome is part of the biological foundation of who we are,” said Allore, who conducts genetic and genomic research in the zoology department at the University of British Columbia. He is also pastor of St. Mark’s Parish in Vancouver, chaplain at UBC and chaplain to the UBC Hospital.
The U. S . decision on patenting human genes builds on the Supreme Court of Canada 2002 decision that struck down Harvard University’s claim to hold a patent on a mouse.
Harvard markets a genetically modified mouse to laboratories involved in cancer research. The OncoMouse develops cancer easily, speeding up cancer-related lab work.
The Canadian Council of Churches was an intervener in the OncoMouse case, arguing that patenting and commercializing a higher life form is unethical.
“The faith communities bring a certain expertise to this, and that hasn’t always been seen,” said CCC general secretary Rev. Dr. Karen Hamilton. “The churches are not anti-science… There’s nothing but huge thanksgiving to God for the types of opportunities that are available to us now which were not before.
That doesn’t mean that there’s no question about how we talk about meaning in life and in the case of the gene issue, ownership of life.”
Following the Supreme Court decision Myriad sought to assure investors it still controlled valuable intellectual property in its testing methods.
“Myriad has more than 500 valid and enforceable claims in 24 different patents conferring strong patent protection for its BRACAnalysis test,” said a company press release.