Supreme Court says genes cannot be patented

An important decision from the Supreme Court is likely to influence the emerging field of genetic medicine was made on Thursday.

The issue was whether parts of the human body, individual genes, could be patented or owned by a company.

The Supreme Court decided only synthetic genes could be patented, not human genes.

So now, thousands of women could have increased access to life-saving tests, using natural human genes.

"This unquestionably is a good day for patient advocates and individual patients who are looking for access to cheaper alternative tests. When you don't have a monopoly on the gene, you can't stop competitors from coming in," said Dr. James Evans, a genetics researcher.

The bad news for business? This could mean thousands of other patents already issued for human genes could be reversed.