Book Launch: “The Genome Defense” – Gene Patents, Civil Rights Litigation and the American Government
When: Wednesday, March 22, 2023, 4:30 PM - 6:30 PM
Where: LSE, MAR1.08, Marshall Building 54 Lincoln's Inn Fields London WC2A 3LJ
In 2013, the US Supreme Court held that naturally occurring genetic sequences may not be patented, instantly invalidating hundreds, if not thousands, of existing patents and opening the market to genetic screens for cancer and other hereditary diseases. The case, Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics, was remarkable in many ways, not least because it was prosecuted on behalf of twenty plaintiffs -- researchers, professional associations, medical practitioners and individual patients -- by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Public Patent Foundation as a case centered on individual civil rights rather than a technical interpretation of the U.S. Patent Act. The case also sheds light on the poorly understood role of the executive branch and its many offices and agencies in formulating U.S. policy on science-based issues.
In The Genome Defense: Inside the Epic Legal Battle to Determine Who Owns Your DNA (Hachette/Algonquin, 2021), Professor Jorge Contreras brings this important and unique case to life. Through nearly 100 interviews with attorneys, advocates, judges, patients and government officials, Contreras peels back the layers of this remarkable episode in American legal history and explains not only what happened, but why and how, and what its implications are for the future of medical science.
During the book launch, three highly esteemed commentators will share their views on the book:
- Daniel Alexander, KC, 8 New Square
- Duncan Matthews, Professor of Intellectual Property Law at Queen Marry University of London
- Jenny Molloy, Senior Research Associate, Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, University of Cambridge
The event is co-organised with the London School of Economics.