One of the major potential stumbling blocks for the field of genome-based diagnostics – particularly as we begin to move into the whole-genome sequencing era – is the unresolved issue of gene patents.  Currently somewhere in the order of 20% of the protein-coding genes in the human genome are covered by some kind of patent…

Reposted with a new title and minor corrections. A sorry saga in Australian commercial genetics has apparently drawn to a close – just as another one looks set to begin. Let’s start from the beginning. Back in 2003, Australian biotech Genetic Technologies bought acquired the rights to a patent on testing of the breast cancer…