ACLU wants patents on gene tests declared unconstitutional

ArsTechnica reports on the interesting lawsuit filed by the ACLU against Myriad Genetics: ACLU wants patents on gene tests declared unconstitutional:

Gene patents have always been a contentious topic, as many have questioned whether the products of millions of years of evolution really merits the same sort of protection that a new process technology does.  Nevertheless, the issue appeared to be diminishing in importance, as the rate of gene patenting dropped and most researchers weren't finding their work inhibited by patents.  Now, it appears that the issue will be coming back to the fore, as the ACLU is announcing a major lawsuit against Myriad Genetics, which holds patents related to testing for mutations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, which are often mutated in hereditary breast cancer cases.

This is going to be quite a fight, closely watched in many quarters.  It does seem like patenting something which exists anyway, a "discovered innovation", has less standing than creating something which never existed before.