Breast Cancer and the Patenting of Genes

Geneticist Mary-Claire King spent over a decade tracking down a gene mutation that she believed leads to a hereditary disposition to breast and ovarian cancer. Then a biotech company stepped in and patented the gene! Legal arguments over whether this naturally occurring gene can be patented went all of the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. What happened? Learn more about Dr. King's application of genetic knowledge to human rights issues, starting when she was a graduate student at UC Berkeley, to her groundbreaking work on the inherited diseases, continuing at the present time. 

Speaker: Philip Harriman