gene patents

According to the law in most states, health care providers own patients' medical records. But federal privacy law governs how that information can be used. And whether or not you can profit from your own medical data is murky.

If Your Medical Information Becomes A Moneymaker, Could You Get A Cut?

6:49pm October 15, 2018

by Richard Harris

Sometimes discoveries derived from patients' medical data become the foundation of new profit-making companies. A fledgling industry wants to help patients get a cut of the cash.

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Smallpox virus, colorized and magnified in this micrograph 42,000 times, is the real concern for biologists working on a cousin virus — horsepox. They're hoping to develop a better vaccine against smallpox, should that human scourge ever be used as a bi

Did Pox Virus Research Put Potential Profits Ahead of Public Safety?

1:05pm February 17, 2018

by Nell Greenfieldboyce

Privately funded scientists made a virus related to smallpox from scratch, hoping their version might lead to a better smallpox vaccine. But critics question the need — and worry about repercussions.

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Broad Institute Wins Big Battle Over CRISPR Gene-Editing Patent

7:31pm February 15, 2017

by Richard Harris

CRISPR technology is already worth billions of dollars, investors say. This ruling seems to affirm the biggest piece of the pie goes to the Broad, over patent rival University of California, Berkeley.

Emmanuelle Charpentier (left) and Jennifer Doudna have a case for being the inventors of CRISPR-cas9, a transformative tool for gene editing.

Scientists Battle In Court Over Lucrative Patents For Gene-Editing Tool

6:29pm December 05, 2016

by Richard Harris

A gene-editing technology called CRISPR-cas9 could be a gold mine for its inventors, but it's not clear who owns the idea. U.S. patent judges will soon hear oral arguments to decide the issue.

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