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Biology

The Legal Challenges of Patenting Genetic Sequences

Quick fact

In 2013, the US Supreme Court ruled that a naturally occurring piece of DNA cannot be patented, even if isolated from the body, but synthetic complementary DNA (cDNA) can be patented.

Why this is interesting

You know that companies can patent drugs, but can they own the rights to your genes? It sounds futuristic, but until recently, scientists had patents on human DNA – and the battle to decide who owns your genetic code is far from over.