Federal appeals court reinstates corporate ownership over human genes for breast cancer

(NaturalNews) Reversing a previous decision by a US District Court that declared gene patenting to be invalid, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) recently ruled in opposition, declaring that certain gene variants are supposedly unnatural and can thus be legally patented by biotechnology companies. Myriad Genetics and Laboratories, a molecular diagnostics company out of Salt Lake City, Ut., had filed patents for BRCA1 and BRCA2 , two genes allegedly linked to predicting breast cancer risk. Because the company had supposedly omitted certain so-called noncoding “junk” regions from the genes, Myriad alleged that these genes were their own intellectual property. Last year, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and others challenged the patents on these and five other genes that had been filed by Myriad. US District Court Judge Robert W. Sweet, who heard the case, ended up issuing a 152-page decision ruling against the patents because the genes, after all, do exist naturally in every woman’s body (http://www.naturalnews.com/028492_BRCA1_human_genes.html). But CAFC sees things differently. The mere act of pulling BRCA1 and BRCA2 out of their natural gene sequences or of altering them in some other way apparently renders them unnatural and open game for patenting. The judgment even made the bold declaration that “[t]he molecules as claimed do not exist in nature.” So this essentially means that any doctor or medical specialist who conducts tests or analyses involving BRCA1 or BRCA2 will have to first gain permission from Myriad to do so. And just like with patented genetically-modified organisms (GMO), use of the patented genes will likely come at a price in the form of mandatory royalty fees. “The human genome, like the structure of blood, air or water, was discovered, not created,” said Chris Hansen, a staff lawyer from the ACLU, in response to Myriad’s original patent filings. “There is an endless amount of information on genes that begs for further discovery, and gene patents put up unacceptable barriers to the free exchange of ideas.” The Association for Molecular Pathology, the American College of Medical Genetics, the American Society for Clinical Pathology, and the College of American Pathologists were all plaintiffs in the case against Myriad and the US Patent and Trademark Office. Sources for this article include: http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn20755-breast-cancer-gene-patent-reinstated.html

Justice Department seeks to pass rule allowing government officials to lie in response to FOIA requests

(NaturalNews) A powerful tool that allows ordinary citizens to obtain crucial information from government archives, the US Department of State (DOA) Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) is under attack. The Daily Caller reports that the US Justice Department wants to revise the law to allow government officials to lie about, or conceal the very existence of, records that it does not wish to release publicly. The Justice Department claims that the law needs to be revised to protect sensitive information from being released. But current FOIA provisions already exempt certain information from having to be supplied, as long as those requesting the information are given a proper explanation as to why it cannot be released. But the new rule would allow officials to not only conceal the information, but also to blatantly lie about it. In other words, when the federal government wants to keep certain dirty little secrets under wraps, even “secrets” not protected by the exemption, it will simply be able to tell those requesting such information that it does not exist. “(The rule) will dramatically undermine government integrity by allowing a law designed to provide public access to government information to be twisted to permit federal law enforcement agencies to actively lie to the American people,” said the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), and OpenTheGovernment.org, in a joint public statement (http://www.openthegovernment.org/sites/default/files/FOIA%20552c%20Comment%20-%2010-19-11%20-%20FINAL.pdf). FOIA requests, of course, have been crucial in exposing all kinds of government corruption. A FOIA request exposed US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano as a liar concerning the safety of Transportation Security Administration (TSA) naked body scanners, for instance (http://www.naturalnews.com/032839_body_scanners_TSA.html). “The problem is, if you’re a FOIA requester and the agency says they don’t have the records, you have no reason to doubt that,” said CREW chief counsel Anne Weismann concerning the proposal. “But if they cite an exemption, you have the option to sue.” The proposed FOIA revisions were first published back in March, and the Justice Department began taking public comments on them for a short period of time. Due to massive public backlash, the agency is once again accepting comments. You can submit your own comments by contacting: Office of Information Policy (OIP) Suite 11050 1425 New York Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20530 (202) 514-3642 Sources for this article include: http://dailycaller.com/2011/10/24/justice-dept-proposes-lying-hiding-existence-of-records-under-new-foia-rule/

Israeli Scientists Show DNA Evidence Can be Fabricated

(NaturalNews) Scientists from the Tel Aviv, Israel-based company Nucleix have demonstrated that it is possible to create fake DNA samples and plant them as evidence at a crime scene, in a paper published in the journal Forensic Science: International Genetics . “You can just engineer a crime scene,” said lead researcher and Nucleix co-founder Dan Frumkin. “Any biology undergraduate could perform this.” In addition to having developed a method of fabricating DNA evidence, Nucleix has also developed a method of detecting faked DNA that it plans to sell to forensics labs. The scientists have developed two different ways to manufacture DNA samples in order to fool law enforcement. The first involves using DNA profiles from law enforcement databases, which record the code at 13 different spots on a person’s genome. Using a pooled library of DNA samples from a number of different people, the geneticists were able to physically construct DNA that was identical to a suspect’s DNA at those 13 points. It would take only 425 different DNA snippets to be able to construct every possible permutation, the researchers said. The second method involved collecting actual DNA from the person whose genetic material was to be faked, such as by collecting a strand of their hair or saliva from a cup they had used. In both cases, the DNA was then reproduced in large quantities using a technique called whole genome amplification. This DNA was inserted into red blood cells, which were then passed off as a real DNA sample. A normal blood sample would contain both red and white blood cells, and the red blood cells would contain no DNA. In addition to this difference from a normal sample, amplified DNA lacks certain molecules contained by normal DNA. Forensics labs are unlikely to test for either of these anomalies without cause, however. “DNA is a lot easier to plant at a crime scene than fingerprints,” said Tania Simoncelli of the American Civil Liberties Union, in response to the study. “We’re creating a criminal justice system that is increasingly relying on this technology.” The researchers warned that their techniques could also be used to replicate enough of a person’s DNA to carry out genetic testing on them without their consent, thus violating their right to genetic privacy. Sources for this story include: www.nytimes.com.