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Commentary

Nature 415, 577-579 (7 February 2002) | doi:10.1038/415577a

Open Innovation Challenges

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Diagnostic testing fails the test

Jon F. Merz1, Antigone G. Kriss2, Debra G. B. Leonard3 & Mildred K. Cho4

  1. Jon F. Merz is at the Center for Bioethics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104-3308, USA
  2. Antigone G. Kriss is at George Mason University School of Law, Arlington, Virginia 22201, USA
  3. Debra G. B. Leonard is in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA
  4. Mildred K. Cho is at the Center for Biomedical Ethics, Stanford University, Palo Alto, California 94304, USA. Requests for further data and information, including the full results of the survey, are available direct from J. F. M. (e-mail: Email: merz@mail.med.upenn.edu)

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The pitfalls of patents are illustrated by the case of haemochromatosis.

Questions about the effects of patents and licensing are becoming critical in the United States, Europe and other developed countries as more genes are discovered and patented, and as genetic testing becomes an integral part of standard medical care. The award of patents for the diagnostic test for haemochromatosis, a progressive iron-overload disease, joins an ever-growing list of such tests that have been, or will very soon be, patented.