And of course, the human gene.

The human gene?

How is that even possible? Could you patent a cat's whiskers? A cloud formation? A comb-over for a balding man? (Ah, well, yes, there is a comb-over patent out there somewhere.)

The idea that the essence of our biology could be patented in the manner of an alarm clock or windshield wiper, however, came as a shock to the many of us who don't follow the legal struggles of the biotech world. Yet gene patents have existed for 30 years.

Until, that is, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously declared last week that the natural human gene cannot be commercially owned.

Many of us were unaware that this was even a thing until last month, when Angelina Jolie announced that she had opted for a double mastectomy after discovering she carries a genetic mutation that gave her an 87% chance of developing breast cancer and a 50% chance of ovarian cancer at some point in her life. She had discovered her risk after taking an expensive test developed by Myriad Genetics, the Utah firm whose gene patents were the subject of the Supreme Court decision.

"The cost of testing for BRCA1 and BRCA2, at more than $3,000 in the United States, remains an obstacle for many women," Jolie wrote in the New York Times.

Her mild critique unleashed a whiff of unseemliness about the cost of the BRACAnalysis test, as many women especially the uninsured came forward to say they were at risk but could not afford to take it.

Why is the test so expensive? There's no competition; Myriad has a zealously enforced monopoly.

After Jolie's bombshell essay ran, Myriad went into something of a defensive crouch, insisting the great majority of its tests are covered by health insurance. The company said it has provided financial assistance to 5,000 women who could not afford the fee.

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Human gene patenting is a thing most of us aren't ready for

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