May 3, 2010 | Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology
Pathologists already find it difficult to obtain gene patent licenses needed to offer multi-gene molecular diagnostic tests
Patents on human genes are a major issue in pathology and clinical laboratory testing. Now a new report based on the study of the positive and negative consequences of gene patenting comes to the conclusion that patents on human genes tend to deter competition in the gene testing market more than they encourage further development of new technologies for measuring the risk of disease.
Medical science is on the brink of mainstreaming genetic discovery into patient care. But patents and exclusive licensing threaten to fragment ownership of the human genome and derail the promise of personalized medicine for everyone, observed James P. Evans, M.D., Ph.D., Clinical Professor of Genetics at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, in his commentary on a new report from Duke University that focused on the impact of patenting and exclusive licensing of human genes.
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Mar 29, 2010 | Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology
Multi-marker pathology cancer tests likely to be developed from this research
Pathologists and other clinical laboratory scientists can expect to see a number of multi-biomarker genetic tests for cancer as a result of research that is identifying specific gene abnormalities that are common to certain cancers and promote the growth of these cancers. Variations in these mutations make a difference in the effectiveness of certain treatments.
With the aid of recent advances in genomic mapping technology, an international team led by researchers at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Broad Institute have found that many of these aberrations in the genetic code are shared by a variety of cancers occurring in many different types of tissues. The study appears in the February 18 issue of Nature.
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Mar 12, 2010 | Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology
Australian patients are using an American clinical pathology laboratory for their genetic testing needs
It’s a half-price sale of genetic clinical laboratory tests for 5,000 customers of Australian health insurer NIB. NIB wants to encourage its beneficiaries to screen themselves to identify their genetic tendencies for such conditions as heart disease, diabetes, some cancers, and other diseases with a known genetic component.
NIB has arranged for California-based Navigenics to conduct the genetic tests for a price of US $499. That’s a 50% discount from Navigenics’ usual retail price of US $999.
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