Genes Can’t Be Patented, Rules Australia’s High Court

Your genes are no longer patentable in Australia. The country’s highest court found unanimously that two previous Australian judgments allowing patents of genes were wrong, and they do not constitute a patentable invention.

The judges unanimously agreed on the outcome, but had different reasons. The majority of judges ruled that the key part of a gene is not its physical structure, but rather the information stored in it, which is not an invention. They wrote: “[Its] substance is information embodied in arrangements of nucleotides. The information is not ‘made’ by human action. It is discerned.”

Hey, check out all the research scientist jobs. Post your resume today!

Back to news