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{ Monthly Archives }
Some of us is not actually us. Parts of our genome are made up of “fossil” DNA from deactivated retroviruses, providing a treasure trove of material for archaeologists of the genome:
http://schaechter.asmblog.org/schaechter/2010/04/paleovirology.html
The BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene patents, owned by Myriad Genetics, have been struck down by a judge in Federal court. The suit, brought by the ACLU and several other partners, argued that genes are “natural” and thus cannot be patented. Patenting, the argued, lead to a stifling of innovation. BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutations have been associated with breast and ovarian cancer.