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1 May 2011Asia-PacificTania Obranovich

Banning the patenting of biological materials in Australia: fact v fiction

The BRCA patents, which claim breast cancer diagnostic methods and BRCA DNA molecules, have courted significant controversy in Australia. Specifically, the Australian licensee’s attempt to centralise BRCA diagnostic testing in-house caused great public concern and triggered the establishment of a Senate enquiry into the impact of granting gene patents.

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