美国联邦巡回上诉**维持了早些时候的一项裁决，即孤立的人类基因实际上可以获得专利。该病例涉及Myriad Genetics，Inc.及其两个基因（BRCA1和BRCA2）的专利，这两个基因的突变与遗传性乳腺癌和卵巢癌高度相关。据《华尔街日报》报道，这项裁决使Myriad成为“美国唯一的疾病基因筛查商业提供商”。代表包括分子病理学协会和美国病理学家学院在内的本案原告的ACLU指出，Myriad的垄断使得它可以设定检测的成本（根据检测的不同，从300美元到3000美元不等），并消除了使用相同基因进行替代检测的可能性。

在2比1的裁决中，法官艾伦·卢里写道：

"The isolated DNA molecules before us are not found in nature. They are obtained in he laboratory and are man-made, the product of human ingenuity. While they are prepared from products of nature, so is every other composition of matter… For example, virtually every medicine utilized by today’s medical practitioners, and every manufactured plastic product, is either synthesized from natural materials (most often petroleum fracti***) or derived from natural plant materials. But, as such, they are different from natural materials, even if they are ultimately derived from them. The same is true of isolated DNA molecules."

在法官William Bryson的反对意见中，他坚持认为DNA即使是分离出来的，也不是人造的发明：

"The only difference between the naturally occurring BRCA genes during transcription and the claimed isolated DNA is that the claimed genes have been isolated according to nature’s predefined boundaries, i.e., at points that preserve the ability of the gene to express the protein for which it is coded. In that respect, extracting a gene is akin to snapping a leaf from a tree."

美国公民自由联盟的一位发言人告诉《华尔街日报》，它正在考虑其法律选择，其中可能包括要求上诉**重新考虑或直接向最高**上诉。