Surpeme Court Decision on Gene Patenting Can Affect Drug Prices

In a surprising decision the Supreme Court unanimously (with the opinion written by Justice Clarence Thomas) ruled that human genes cannot be patented by companies that discover them to solely profit off of the research.  This is one of the things that keep name brand drug prices high.  

Jonas Salk, inventor of the polio vaccine, was once asked by CBS anchor Edward R. Murrow who owned the patent.  He said "The people I would say. Could you patent the sun?"  There was plenty of scientific progress when greedy corporations did not drive the process. The great polio scare of the 1950's was contained successfully as a result.

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