Showing posts with label breast cancer gene patent. Show all posts
Showing posts with label breast cancer gene patent. Show all posts

Sunday, 26 May 2013

Angelina Julie: “Like a Scene out of a Science-Fiction”

This is how the actress described the long process she has undergone starting February to remove both of her breasts' tissues in an article in The New York Times. In a down to earth style, Julie describes her motivation to undergo a double mastectomy: mainly, she wanted to empower her stance towards cancer and up her chances to live longer for her children. We have published a week ago a post on Angelina Julie's preventive double mastectomy due to her learning she carries the gene BRCA1 and therefore is at a higher risk for breast and ovarian cancer. Today we'd like to share some related points. First, the timing of Julie's announcement is crucial to an ongoing supreme court case with the company that has patented research on that specific gene (2). The biotech company, Myriad Genetics, "owns the patent to BRCA1 and another so-called isolated gene that carries similar risks called BRCA2 (3). The Supreme Court is expected to issue its ruling in the related case end of June (4). Interestingly, the case began in 2009 and following Julie's announcement, Myriad's stock has risen sharply (5).