The U.S. Supreme Court isn't the only high court considering a precedent-setting case on patenting human genes. Australia's Full Federal Court this week began proceedings in an appeal of an earlier decision that upheld the validity of breast cancer diagnostic tests developed by Myriad Genetics&m... [More]

A decision that private companies can control human genes will be appealed in the Federal Court.   Cancer groups have applauded the move, and say a win is vital to protect patient access to new tests and treatments. Law firm Maurice Blackburn has lodged documents to appeal a decision l... [More]

Can companies patent human genes? It was the question considered by an Australian federal court judge who on Friday ruled that a U.S. biotech company was within its rights to hold Australian patent 686004.   That patent covers mutations of the human gene BRCA1 which point to a greater h... [More]

COUNTERFEITERS, cattle rustlers, terrorists and drug cartels are all potential targets for DNA barcode technology to be commercially launched soon by Adelaide company GeneWorks, managers say. But the $82 billion global security market is not the only industry expected to benefit from the Theb... [More]

PEOPLE tested for predisposition to a genetic disease will no longer have a say in whether their results are given to their close relatives, under proposed changes to NSW laws. The NSW Health Minister, Jillian Skinner, has introduced legislation to allow doctors to inform a patient's blood relative... [More]

Myriad Genetics Inc. of Salt Lake City and other biotechnology companies can’t monopolize disease treatment by patenting human genetic material, an Australian trial was told this week in the country’s first challenge to ownership of DNA molecules. Cancer Voices Australia, a nation... [More]

A PROPOSED ban on the controversial patenting of human genetic material has lost the support of a Senate committee which threatens to renew the intense debate that has pitched patients and doctors against researchers and biotech companies. A narrow majority of the Senate Legal and Constitutio... [More]

As actress Nicole Kidman celebrates a second daughter born through a surrogate mother in the US, NSW law is about to change to declare criminal mothers who attempt to do the same. The NSW's Surrogacy Act, which was passed in November but has not yet come into force, will impose penalties of t... [More]

  Legislation to outlaw the patenting of human genes has been introduced into the federal parliament by NSW Liberal senator Bill Heffernan. In the past, patents have been granted to biotechnology companies for genes linked to breast and ovarian cancers. But Senator Heffernan says that's ... [More]

Australians continue to support biotechnologies that provide health and environmental benefits, but support for genetically modified foods has dropped since 2007, a new national survey has found. The latest study of public perception towards biotechnologies – conducted biannually over t... [More]