Angelina Jolie’s op-ed in The New York Times was big news. She shared her family history of cancer, her own genetic mutation, and her choice to have prophylactic surgery – agonizing decisions faced by other high risk women. Breast Cancer Consortium members and contributors were vital to the public discussion about the context of a personal decision like Jolie’s as well as the politics of patenting human genes. We are pleased to report that the Supreme Court decided in June that it was unlawful to patent natural human genes.
Read essays on the subject:
- Celebrity Breasts and Corporate Gene Patents by Karuna Jaggar
- Angelina Jolie and the One Percent by Gayle Sulik
- Why Jolie’s Cancer Test Costs So Much by Gayle Sulik
- The Chatter about Jolie by Lani Horn
- Angelina Jolie has made a legitimate choice, but the real question remains the search for the cure – Interview with Grazia De Michelle
- Background article: Patients, Patents, and Profits in a Genomic Age by Gayle Sulik
