人类基因是否可以被授予专利？(1/2)

英语自学网

概述：一直以来美国生物技术工业的基因研究结果都可以被授予专利，可是最近美国最高法院对此提出了异议。
Hints:
United States Supreme Court
Myriad Genetics
American Civil Liberties Union
校对：OFELIA1030
翻译&注解：StepHanie_Lu
组长：vincit
答疑：kiwiangle
发音点评：winshare2012
本期材料发音模仿地址：http://bulo.hujiang.com/menu/11885/item/760068/For more than 30 years, businesses in the United States have been able to patent human genes. The government has given companies rights to make drugs, medical tests and other tools based on those genes. But now, the United States Supreme Court is reconsidering the issue. The court's decision could influence the development of medicine, agriculture and clean energy.
Myriad Genetics was the first company to identify two genes that can greatly increase a woman's risk of breast and ovarian cancer.
The genes, when defective, not normal, can cause these common and often deadly forms of the disease.
The company patented the genes and used them to produce a test for the gene defects. The test was designed to show women whether they had a greater than normal chance of developing breast or ovarian cancer.
Patent protection gave Myriad 20 years to recover its investment. But the American Civil Liberties Union says no one should have exclusive rights to a human body part.30多年来，美国公司一直能够为人类基因申请专利。政府赋予了公司利用这些基因制药、进行医疗测试和制作其他工具的权利。但是如今，美国最高法院正在重新思考这个问题。法院的最终决定将影响医药、农业以及清洁能源的发展。
马里亚德基因公司最先找出了会大大增加女性患乳腺癌和卵巢癌几率的两个基因。
当这些基因有缺陷、不正常时会导致一些常见疾病，这些疾病通常是致命的。
该公司获得了这种基因的专利，并用其来进行基因缺陷测试。这种测试能够检测出女性患乳腺癌或卵巢癌的几率是否超出正常范围。
专利保护让马里亚德基因公司有20年的时间来收回投资。但是美国公民自由联盟表示，任何人都不能独享使用人类身体某一部分的权利。