On July 29th they were relieved， at least temporarily. A federal appeals court overturned the prior decision， ruling that Myriad Genetics could indeed holb patents to two genss that help forecast a woman's risk of breast cancer. The chief executive of Myriad， a company in Utah，said the ruling was a blessing to firms and patients alike.

But as companies continue their attempts at personalised medicine， the courts will remain rather busy. The Myriad case itself is probably not over Critics make three main arguments against gene patents： a gene is a product of nature， so it may not be patented； gene patents suppress innovation rather than reward it； and patents' monopolies restrict access to genetic tests such as Myriad's. A growing number seem to agree