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Supreme Court decides a gene can't be patented

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A protester's flag at the Supreme Court
A person carried an American flag while marching in front of the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, DC.
Mark Wilson/Getty Images

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously today that human genes cannot be patented.

"A naturally occurring DNA segment is a product of nature and not patent eligible merely because it has been isolated," wrote Justice Clarence Thomas, as quoted by the New York Times.

We talk with Lori B. Andrews, a professor of law at the Illinois Institute of Technology, about the decision.

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A protester's flag at the Supreme Court
A person carried an American flag while marching in front of the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, DC.
Mark Wilson/Getty Images