NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

The ruling opens the door for other labs to conduct testing for genetic disposition to cancer.

In their unanimous decision, the nine justices concluded that unlike naturally occurring DNA, lab-created DNA can be patented.

The company at the center of the case, Myriad Genetics (MYGN), was attempting to retain exclusive rights to find, isolate and synthetically recreate genes that, when mutated, vastly increase a person's chance of developing breast and ovarian cancer. The ability to do so allows the lab to identify when patients run a higher-than-average risk of breast and ovarian cancer.

Myriad's stock price initially rose as much as 13% after the ruling. But it sold off throughout the afternoon and wound up down nearly 6% for the day.

"Much of the industry will be a winner in this," according to attorney Sandra Park, a member of the American Civil Liberties Union legal team that fought against Myriad. "There are many companies that want to offer genetic testing on patented genes. They've been unable to do that so far because of these types of patents."

That includes genetic testing labs InVitae and GeneDx, two private companies that voiced support to open up competition to others in the industry.

Will insurance cover genetic testing, preventive surgery?

Still, Myriad maintains that much of what goes into its gene testing remains protected by patents -- more than 500 of them.

In a statement, Myriad CEO Peter D. Meldrum noted the company can still protect its synthetic DNA patents, a key part of its business. Meldrum said the ruling ensures "strong intellectual property protection for our BRACAnalysis test moving forward."

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Myriad Genetics whipsawed on Supreme Court gene ruling

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