Should you be able to patent a human gene? | Tania Simoncelli

Translator: Adrián Levices Reviewer: Serv. de Norm. Lingüística U. de Santiago de Compostela

It was an afternoon in the fall of 2005.

Era unha tarde de outono de 2005.

I was working at the ACLU as the organization's science advisor.

Traballaba de asesora científica na ACLU, a Unión polas Liberdades Civís.

I really, really loved my job,

Encantábame o meu traballo,

but I was having one of those days

pero precisamente ese día

where I was feeling just a little bit discouraged.

sentíame un chisco desanimada.

So I wandered down the hallway to my colleague Chris Hansen's office.

Así que me acheguei ata o despacho do meu compañeiro Chris Hansen.

Chris had been at the ACLU for more than 30 years,

Chris levaba máis de 30 anos traballando na ACLU,

so he had deep institutional knowledge and insights.

polo que coñecía ben o funcionamento das institucións.

I explained to Chris that I was feeling a little bit stuck.

Díxenlle a Chris que me sentía un chisco trabada.

I had been investigating a number of issues

Eu estaba investigando unha serie de cuestións

at the intersection of science and civil liberties -- super interesting.

sobre o cruzamento de ciencia e liberdades civís: moi interesante.

But I wanted the ACLU to engage these issues in a much bigger way,

Pero quería que a ACLU abordase estes problemas máis de cara,

in a way that could really make a difference.

dun xeito que puidese supor unha diferenza.

So Chris cut right to the chase, and he says,

Chris foi directo ó gran e preguntoume:

"Well, of all the issues you've been looking at, what are the top five?"

"De todas esas cuestións, cales son as cinco que máis te inquietan?"

"Well, there's genetic discrimination,

"Pois está a da discriminación xenética,

and reproductive technologies,

as tecnoloxías reprodutivas,

and biobanking, and ...

os biobancos e...

oh, there's this really cool issue,

vaites, tamén hai unha xenial,

functional MRI and using it for lie detection, and ...

o emprego das IMRf como detector de mentiras e...

oh, and of course, there's gene patents."

claro, o tema das patentes xenéticas".

"Gene patents?"

"Patentes xenéticas?"

"Yes, you know, patents on human genes."

"Si, iso é, patentes de xenes humanos".

"No!

"Non!"

You're telling me that the US government

"Estasme dicindo que o goberno estadounidense

has been issuing patents on part of the human body?

expide patentes de partes do corpo humano?

That can't be right."

Non pode ser".

I went back to my office and sent Chris three articles.

Volvín para o meu despacho e envieille a Chris tres artigos.

And 20 minutes later, he came bursting in my office.

E 20 minutos despois, chegou el botando centellas.

"Oh my god! You're right! Who can we sue?"

"Raios! Tiñas razón! A quen hai que demandar?"

(Laughter)

(Risos)

Now Chris is a really brilliant lawyer,

E é que Chris é un grande avogado,

but he knew almost nothing about patent law

pero non sabía case nada sobre lexislación de patentes

and certainly nothing about genetics.

e absolutamente nada sobre xenética.

I knew something about genetics, but I wasn't even a lawyer,

Eu sabia algo sobre xenética, pero non era avogada,

let alone a patent lawyer.

moito menos avogada de patentes.

So clearly we had a lot to learn before we could file a lawsuit.

Quedaba claro que había moito que aprender antes de demandar a ninguén.

First, we needed to understand exactly what was patented

Primeiro, tiñamos que saber exactamente qué se patentaba

when someone patented a gene.

cando alguén patentaba un xene.

Gene patents typically contain dozens of claims,

As patentes xenéticas adoitan incluír ducias de reivindicacións,

but the most controversial of these are to so-called "isolated DNA" --

pero as máis discutidas de todas son as chamadas "ADN illado"

namely, a piece of DNA that has been removed from a cell.

ou sexa, un anaco de ADN que se extraeu dunha célula.

Gene patent proponents say,

Os defensores disto din:

"See? We didn't patent the gene in your body,

"Non patentamos os xenes do voso corpo,

we patented an isolated gene."

patentamos os xenes illados".

And that's true,

E é verdade,

but the problem is that any use of the gene requires that it be isolated.

mais o problema radica en que é preciso illar os xenes para utilizalos.

And the patents weren't just to a particular gene that they isolated,

E as patentes non cobren un xene illado en particular,

but on every possible version of that gene.

senón todas as posibles versións dese xene.

So what does that mean?

E que significa isto?

That means that you can't give your gene to your doctor

Pois que non lle podes pasar os teus xenes a un médico

and ask him or her to look at it,

e pedirlle que os examine,

say, to see if it has any mutations,

para ver se conteñen mutacións,

without permission of the patent holder.

sen o permiso do titular da patente.

It also means that the patent holder has the right to stop anyone

Tamén implica que o titular da patente ten o dereito de impedir

from using that gene in research or clinical testing.

que ese xene se empregue en investigacións ou ensaios clínicos.

Allowing patent holders,

Permitir que estes titulares,

often private companies,

a miúdo empresas privadas,

to lock up stretches of the human genome was harming patients.

fechen partes do xenoma humano estaba a prexudicar ós pacientes.

Consider Abigail,

Temos o caso de Abigail,

a 10-year-old with long QT syndrome,

una pequena de 10 anos con síndrome do QT longo,

a serious heart condition that, if left untreated,

unha doenza cardíaca que, se non se trata,

can result in sudden death.

pode provocar a morte súbita.

The company that obtained a patent on two genes associated with this condition

A empresa que patentou os dous xenes asociados a esta doenza

developed a test to diagnose the syndrome.

creara unha proba para diagnosticar a síndrome.

But then they went bankrupt and they never offered it.

Pero entón entrou en bancarrota e nunca chegaron a ofrecela.

So another lab tried to offer the test,

Outro laboratorio tentou ofrecer a proba,

but the company that held the patents threatened to sue the lab

pero a empresa que posuía as patentes ameazou con demandalos

for patent infringement.

por infrinxir a patente.

So as a result,

O resultado:

for 2 years, no test was available.

dous anos sen poder facer a proba.

During that time,

Durante ese tempo,

Abigail died of undiagnosed long QT.

Abigail morreu de QT longo sen diagnosticar.

Gene patents clearly were a problem and were harming patients.

As patentes xenéticas eran un problema que prexudicaba ós pacientes.

But was there a way we could challenge them?

Habería algunha forma de facerlles fronte?

Turns out that the Supreme Court

Pois resulta que o Tribunal Supremo

has made clear through a long line of cases,

deixou claro nunha longa lista de casos anteriores,

that certain things are not patent eligible.

que existen unha serie de cousas que non son patentábeis.

You can't patent products of nature --

Non se poden patentar produtos da natureza:

the air, the water, minerals, elements of the periodic table.

o aire, a auga, os minerais, os elementos da táboa periódica.

And you can't patent laws of nature --

Nin tampouco as leis da natureza:

the law of gravity, E = mc2.

a lei da gravidade, E = mc2.

These things are just too fundamental and must remain free to all

Son cousas moi fundamentais e deben de estar ó alcance de todos,

and reserved exclusively to none.

ninguén pode posuílas en exclusividade.

It seemed to us that DNA,

Na nosa opinión o ADN,

the most fundamental structure of life,

a estrutura da vida máis fundamental,

that codes for the production of all of our proteins,

que codifica a produción de todas as nosas proteínas,

is both a product of nature and a law of nature,

é tanto un produto da natureza coma unha lei da natureza,

regardless of whether it's in our bodies

independentemente de que se atope nos nosos corpos

or sitting in the bottom of a test tube.

ou no fondo dunha probeta.

As we delved into this issue,

Para informarnos mellor,

we traveled all over the country to speak with many different experts --

viaxamos por todo o país para falar con distintos expertos:

scientists, medical professionals, lawyers, patent lawyers.

científicos, profesionais médicos, avogados, avogados de patentes.

Most of them agreed that we were right as a matter of policy,

A maioría dixéronnos que tiñamos razón desde un punto de vista político,

and, at least in theory, as a matter of law.

e, cando menos en teoría, desde un punto de vista legal.

All of them thought

Todos eles pensaban

our chances of winning a gene-patent challenge

que as posibilidades de saír coa nosa neste tema

were about zero.

eran tantas coma cero.

Why is that?

Pero por que?

Well, the patent office had been issuing these patents

Resulta que a oficina de patentes leva emitindo estas patentes

for more than 20 years.

máis de 20 anos.

There were literally thousands of patents on human genes.

Literalmente, había milleiros de patentes de xenes humanos.

The patent bar was deeply entrenched in the status quo,

O tribunal de patentes estaba moi atrincheirado no statu quo,

the biotech industry had grown up around this practice,

a industria da biotecnoloxía medrara arredor desta práctica,

and legislation to ban gene patents had been introduced

e a lexislación para prohibir as patentes xenéticas presentárase

year after year in Congress,

ano tras ano ó Congreso,

and had gone absolutely nowhere.

sen saír xamais adiante.

So the bottom line:

En resumo:

courts just weren't going to be willing to overturn these patents.

os tribunais non ían estar dispostos a anular estas patentes.

Now, neither Chris nor I were the type to shy away from a challenge,

Mais, nin a Chris nin a min nos poñen medo os retos,

and hearing, "Being right just isn't enough,"

e que nos dixeran, "ter razón non abonda",

seemed all the more reason to take on this fight.

dábanos máis folgos para seguir loitando.

So we set out to build our case.

Así que comezamos a fixar a nosa causa.

Now, patent cases tend to be: Company A sues Company B

Os xuízos por patentes adoitan ser: Empresa A demanda a Empresa B

over some really narrow, obscure technical issue.

por algún tema técnico, escuro e confuso.

We weren't really interested in that kind of case,

A nós non nos interesaban aquel tipo de causas,

and we thought this case was much bigger than that.

pensamos que a nosa causa abranguía moito máis.

This was about scientific freedom, medical progress,

Tratábase da liberdade científica, o progreso médico

the rights of patients.

e os dereitos dos pacientes.

So we decided we were going to develop a case

Así que decidimos abrir unha causa

that was not like your typical patent case --

que non sería coma as típicas que hai por patentes,

more like a civil rights case.

senón unha causa a prol dos dereitos civís.

We set out to identify a gene-patent holder

Propuxémonos identificar un titular de patentes xenéticas

that was vigorously enforcing its patents

que estivese a defender tenazmente as súas patentes

and then to organize a broad coalition of plaintiffs and experts

para despois organizarmos unha coalición de demandantes e expertos

that could tell the court

que lles contasen ós tribunais

about all the ways that these patents were harming patients and innovation.

como estas patentes actuaban en detrimento de pacientes e innovación.

We found the prime candidate to sue in Myriad Genetics,

Achamos que o candidato ideal para demandar era Myriad Genetics,

a company that's based in Salt Lake City, Utah.

unha empresa con sede en Salt Lake City, Utah.

Myriad held patents on two genes,

Myriad posuía as patentes de dous xenes,

the BRCA1 and the BRCA2 genes.

os xenes BRCA1 e o BRCA2.

Women with certain mutations along these genes

As mulleres con certas mutacións nestes xenes

are considered to be at a significantly increased risk

teñen máis probabilidades

of developing breast and ovarian cancer.

de padecer cancro de peito e de ovario.

Myriad had used its patents to maintain

Myriad empregara as patentes para manter

a complete monopoly on BRCA testing in the United States.

un monopolio total sobre as probas de BCRA nos Estados Unidos.

It had forced multiple labs that were offering BRCA testing to stop.

Fixo que varios laboratorios deixasen de ofrecer probas de BCRA.

It charged a lot of money for its test --

Cobraban moitos cartos polo seu exame:

over 3,000 dollars.

máis de 3.000 dólares.

It had stopped sharing its clinical data

Deixaran de compartir os seus datos clínicos

with the international scientific community.

coa comunidade científica internacional.

And perhaps worst of all,

E, se callar o peor de todo,

for a period of several years,

durante un período de varios anos,

Myriad refused to update its test to include additional mutations

Myriad negouse a actualizar o seu exame para que incluíse mutacións adicionais

that had been identified by a team of researchers in France.

que foran identificadas por un equipo de investigadores en Francia.

It has been estimated that during that period,

Estimouse que durante ese período,

for several years,

durante varios anos,

as many as 12 percent of women undergoing testing

ata un 12% das mulleres ás que lles fixeran a proba

received the wrong answer --

recibiran una resposta errada:

a negative test result that should have been positive.

un resultado negativo que debería de ser positivo.

This is Kathleen Maxian.

Esta é Kathleen Maxian.

Kathleen's sister Eileen developed breast cancer at age 40

A irmá de Kathleen, Eileen, desenvolveu cancro con 40 anos

and she was tested by Myriad.

e fixo os exames con Myriad.

The test was negative.

O exame deu negativo.

The family was relieved.

A familia acougou.

That meant that Eileen's cancer most likely didn't run in the family,

O máis probable era que ese cancro non estivese presente na familia,

and that other members of her family didn't need to be tested.

polo que os outros membros da familia non precisaban facer o exame.

But two years later,

Mais dous anos despois,

Kathleen was diagnosed with advanced-stage ovarian cancer.

a Kathleen diagnosticáronlle un cancro de ovario en estado avanzado.

It turned out that Kathleen's sister was among the 12 percent

Resultou que a irmá de Kathleen encontrábase entre ese 12%

who received a false-negative test result.

de persoas que recibiron un resultado negativo falso.

Had Eileen received the proper result,

Se Eileen recibise o resultado correcto,

Kathleen would have then been tested,

Kathleen faría o exame,

and her ovarian cancer could have been prevented.

e evitaría o seu cancro de ovario.

Once we settled on Myriad,

Unha vez que nos decidimos por Myriad,

we then had to form a coalition of plaintiffs and experts

tivemos que formar unha coalición de demandantes e expertos

that could illuminate these problems.

que puidesen aclarar estes problemas.

We ended up with 20 highly committed plaintiffs:

Acabamos xuntando 20 demandantes moi comprometidos:

genetic counselors,

conselleiros xenéticos,

geneticists who had received cease and desist letters,

xenetistas que recibiran cartas ameazantes,

advocacy organizations,

organizacións de defensa,

four major scientific organizations that collectively represented

catro organizacións científicas que en conxunto representaban

more than 150,000 scientists and medical professionals,

a máis de 150.000 científicos e profesionais médicos,

and individual women who either couldn't afford Myriad's test,

e mulleres individuais que ou ben non podían pagar o exame de Myriad,

or who wanted to obtain a second opinion but could not,

ou ben querían una segunda opinión que non lles podían dar,

as a result of the patents.

por mor das patentes.

One of the major challenges we had in preparing the case

Un dos principais retos que afrontamos cando preparamos este caso

was figuring out how best to communicate the science.

foi pensar a forma na que explicar a ciencia.

So in order to argue that what Myriad did was not an invention,

Para argumentar que o que fixera Myriad non era un invento,

and that isolated BRCA genes were products of nature,

e que os xenes illados BRCA eran produtos da natureza,

we had to explain a couple of basic concepts, like:

tivemos que explicar un par de conceptos básicos, do tipo:

What's a gene? What's DNA?

Que é un xene? Que é o ADN?

How is DNA isolated, and why isn't that an invention?

Como se illa o ADN, e por que iso non é un invento?

We spent hours and hours with our plaintiffs and experts,

Pasamos horas e horas cos nosos demandantes e expertos,

trying to come up with ways of explaining these concepts

tentando dar coa forma de explicar estes conceptos

simply yet accurately.

de forma sinxela mais certeira.

And we ended up relying heavily on the use of metaphors,

E ao final acabamos por botar man das metáforas,

like gold.

coma a do ouro.

So isolating DNA --

Así que illar ADN

it's like extracting gold from a mountain

é coma extraer ouro dunha montaña.

or taking it out of a stream bed.

ou do leito dun río.

You might be able to patent the process for mining the gold,

Pódese patentar o proceso para extraer ouro,

but you can't patent the gold itself.

pero non podes patentar o propio ouro.

It might've taken a lot of hard work and effort

Tanto ten canto traballo se requira

to dig the gold out of the mountain;

para extraer o ouro da montaña;

you still can't patent it, it's still gold.

non se pode patentar, segue sendo ouro.

And the gold, once it's extracted,

E o ouro, unha vez extraído,

can clearly be used for all sorts of things

pódese empregar en todo tipo de cousas

that it couldn't be used for when it was in the mountain;

nas que non se podía empregar cando estaba na montaña;

you can make jewelry out of it for example --

con el pódense facer xoias, por exemplo.

still can't patent the gold, it's still gold.

Pero non se pode patentar o ouro, porque segue sendo ouro.

So now it's 2009, and we're ready to file our case.

No 2009 xa estabamos listos para presentar o caso.

We filed in federal court in the Southern District of New York,

Presentámolo perante o Tribunal Federal do distrito sur de Nova York,

and the case was randomly assigned to Judge Robert Sweet.

e o caso foille asignado, ao chou, ao xuíz Robert Sweet.

In March 2010, Judge Sweet issued his opinion --

En marzo de 2010, o xuíz Sweet emitiu o seu veredicto:

152 pages --

152 páxinas.

and a complete victory for our side.

Unha vitoria total para nós.

In reading the opinion,

Cando lemos a súa opinión,

we could not get over how eloquently he described the science in the case.

impresionounos a elocuencia coa que describiu a ciencia no caso.

I mean, our brief -- it was pretty good,

Quero dicir, o noso informe... era bastante bo,

but not this good.

pero non tan bo.

How did he develop such a deep understanding of this issue

Como puido desenvolver un coñecemento tan profundo do tema

in such a short time?

en tan pouco tempo?

We just could not comprehend how this had happened.

Non podiamos imaxinar como fora posíbel algo así.

So it turned out,

Así que resultou

Judge Sweet's clerk working for him at the time,

que o asistente co que traballaba o xuíz Sweet daquela,

was not just a lawyer --

non só era avogado...

he was a scientist.

era científico.

He was not just a scientist --

E non só era científico...

he had a PhD in molecular biology.

tiña un doutoramento en bioloxía molecular.

(Laughter)

(Risos)

What an incredible stroke of luck!

Vaia golpe de sorte!

Myriad then appealed

Entón Myriad apelou

to the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

perante o Tribunal de Apelación do Circuíto Federal.

And here things got really interesting.

E aquí as cousas puxéronse interesantes.

First, in a pivotal moment of this case,

Primeiro, nun momento vital deste caso,

the US government switched sides.

o goberno dos Estados Unidos mudou de lado.

So in the district court the government submitted a brief on Myriad's side.

No tribunal do distrito, o goberno emitiu un informe a prol de Myriad.

But now in direct opposition to its own patent office,

Pero en oposición directa á súa propia oficina de patentes,

the US government files a brief that states that is has

o goberno presentou un informe no que dicía

reconsidered this issue in light of the district court's opinion,

que reconsiderara este tema á luz da decisión do tribunal do distrito,

and has concluded that isolated DNA is not patent eligible.

e concluía que o ADN illado non era susceptíbel de ser patentado.

This was a really big deal,

Isto foi moi importante,

totally unexpected.

e totalmente inesperado.

The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit

O Tribunal de Apelación do Circuíto Federal

hears all patent cases,

leva todos os casos de patentes,

and it has a reputation for being very, very pro-patent.

e é coñecida a súa reputación moi, moi a prol das patentes.

So even with this remarkable development,

Así que mesmo con este acontecemento notorio,

we expected to lose.

contabamos con perder.

And we did.

E así foi.

Sort of.

Máis ou menos.

Ends up split decision, 2 to 1.

A decisión foi de 2 contra 1.

But the two judges who ruled against us,

Mais os dous xuíces que votaron contra nós,

did so for completely different reasons.

fixérono por motivos totalmente distintos.

The first one, Judge Lourie,

O primeiro, o xuíz Lourie,

made up his own novel, biological theory --

creou a súa propia e nova teoría biolóxica,

totally wrong.

totalmente errada.

(Laughter)

(Risos)

He decided Myriad had created a new chemical --

Decidiu que Myriad creara unha nova substancia química,

made absolutely no sense.

o que non tiña sentido ningún.

Myriad didn't even argue this, so it came out of the blue.

Myriad xamais argumentou iso, polo que non tiña sentido.

The other, Judge Moore,

O outro xuíz, a xuíza Moore,

said she basically agreed with us that isolated DNA is a product of nature.

dixo que concordaba con nós en canto a ser o ADN illado un produto da natureza.

But she's like, "I don't want to shake up the biotech industry."

Pero que "Non quero zarapallar a industria da biotecnoloxía".

The third, Judge Bryson,

O terceiro, o xuíz Bryson,

agreed with us.

deunos a razón.

So now we sought review by the Supreme Court.

Daquela interpuxemos recurso perante o Tribunal Supremo.

And when you petition the Supreme Court,

E cando interpós un recurso perante o Tribunal Supremo

you have to present a question that you want the Court to answer.

tes que presentar unha pregunta que queiras que che responda o Tribunal.

Usually these questions take the form of a super-long paragraph,

Polo xeral, estas preguntas collen a forma dun parágrafo superlongo,

like a whole page long with lots and lots of clauses,

a miúdo unha páxina con moreas de cláusulas,

"wherein this" and "therefore that."

"onde tal" e "polo tanto".

We submitted perhaps the shortest question presented ever.

Nós fixemos a que se callar foi a pregunta máis curta que xamais recibiron.

Four words:

Cinco palabras:

Are human genes patentable?

Son patentábeis os xenes humanos?

Now when Chris first asked me what I thought of these words,

Cando Chris me preguntou o que pensaba desas palabras,

I said, "Well, I don't know.

díxenlle "Pois non o sei.

I think you have to say, 'Is isolated DNA patentable?'"

Penso que terías que dicir, 'é o ADN illlado patentábel?"

"Nope.

"Non.

I want the justices to have the very same reaction that I had

Quero que os xuíces teñan a mesma reacción que tiven eu

when you brought this issue to me seven years ago."

o día que me falaches deste tema hai sete anos".

Well, I certainly couldn't argue with that.

E claro, que ía dicir eu?

The Supreme Court only hears about one percent

O Tribunal Supremo só oe ao redor dun un por cento

of the cases that it receives,

dos casos que recibe,

and it agreed to hear ours.

e aceptou oír o noso.

The day of the oral argument arrives, and it was really, really exciting --

Chega o día das alegacións orais e foi moi, moi emocionante...

long line of people outside,

con moita xente fóra,

people had been standing in line since 2:30 in the morning

xente que levaba agardando desde as 2:30 da madrugada

to try to get into the courthouse.

para tentar entrar no xulgado.

Two breast cancer organizations,

Dúas organizacións contra o cancro de peito,

Breast Cancer Action and FORCE,

Breast Cancer Action e FORCE,

had organized a demonstration on the courthouse steps.

organizaran unha manifestación á entrada do xulgado.

Chris and I sat quietly in the hallway,

Chris e eu agardabamos xuntos no corredor,

moments before he was to walk in and argue

momentos antes de que el entrase a defender

the most important case of his career.

o caso máis importante da súa carreira.

I was clearly more nervous than he was.

Eu estaba moito máis nerviosa ca el.

But any remaining panic subsided as I walked into the courtroom

Pero todo aquel pánico esvaeceuse cando entrei na sala

and looked around at a sea of friendly faces:

e vin ao meu redor unha morea de rostros coñecidos:

our individual women clients

mulleres que coñecía

who had shared their deeply personal stories,

e que partillaran as súas historias persoais,

the geneticists who had taken huge chunks of time out of their busy careers

os xenetistas que sacrificaran moitísimo tempo das súas atarefadas carreiras

to dedicate themselves to this fight

para dedicarllo a esta loita,

and representatives from a diverse array

representantes dun diverso espectro

of medical, patient advocacy,

de organizacións médicas, de defensa dos pacientes,

environmental and religious organizations,

medioambientais e relixiosas,

who had submitted friend of the court briefs in the case.

que presentaran observacións ao tribunal.

Also in the room were three leaders of the Human Genome Project,

Na sala tamén estaban tres líderes do Proxecto Xenoma Humano,

including the co-discoverer of DNA himself,

incluído o co-descubridor do ADN,

James Watson,

James Watson,

who had submitted a brief to the court,

quen lle presentara un informe ao tribunal,

where he referred to gene patenting as "lunacy."

no que dicía que patentar xenes era unha "tolería".

(Laughter)

(Risos)

The diversity of the communities represented in this room

A diversidade das comunidades representadas na sala

and the contributions each had made to make this day a reality

e as contribucións que cada unha achegou para facer realidade este día

spoke volumes to what was at stake.

dicía moito do que tiñamos en xogo.

The argument itself was riveting.

A alegación era cativadora.

Chris argued brilliantly.

Chris alegou de forma brillante.

But for me,

Pero para min,

the most thrilling aspect was watching the Supreme Court justices grapple

o máis apaixonante foi ver ós xuíces do Tribunal Supremo tentando entender

with isolated DNA,

o ADN illado,

through a series of colorful analogies and feisty exchanges,

mediante unha serie de analoxías vistosas e diálogos enérxicos,

very much the same way as our legal team had done

de forma moi semellante a como fixera o noso equipo legal

for the past seven years.

durante os últimos sete anos.

Justice Kagan likened isolating DNA

A xuíza Kagan asociou o illamento do ADN

to extracting a medicinal plant from the Amazon.

con extraer unha planta medicinal do Amazonas.

Justice Roberts distinguished it from carving a baseball bat from a tree.

O xuíz Roberts asociouno con facer un bate de béisbol a partir dunha árbore.

And in one of my absolutely favorite moments,

E no que sen dúbida foi o meu momento favorito,

Justice Sotomayor proclaimed isolated DNA to be "just nature sitting there."

a xuíza Sotomayor determinou que o ADN illado "era natureza á espera".

(Laughter)

(Risos)

We felt pretty confident leaving the courtroom that day,

Cando saímos aquel día do xulgado sentiámonos moi confiados,

but I could never have anticipated the outcome:

pero xamais podería anticipar o resultado:

nine to zero.

nove a cero.

"A naturally occurring DNA segment is a product of nature,

"Un segmento natural de ADN é un produto da natureza

and not patent-eligible merely because it has been isolated.

e non é susceptible de ser patentado tan só porque fora illado.

And furthermore,

E o que é máis,

Myriad did not create anything."

Myriad non creou nada."

Within 24 hours of the decision,

Vinte e catro horas após a decisión,

five labs had announced

cinco laboratorios anunciaron

that they would begin to offer testing for the BRCA genes.

que comezarían a ofrecer o exame para os xenes BRCA.

Some of them promised to offer the tests at a lower price than Myriad's.

Algúns deles prometeron ofrecer os exames máis baratos ca Myriad.

Some promised to provide a more comprehensive test

Algúns prometeron ofrecer un exame máis exhaustivo

than the one Myriad was offering.

có que ofrecía Myriad.

But of course the decision goes far beyond Myriad.

Pero a decisión do tribunal ía alén de Myriad.

It ends a 25-year practice of allowing patents on human genes

Rematou cunha práctica de 25 anos que permitía patentar xenes humanos

in the United States.

nos Estados Unidos.

It clears a significant barrier to biomedical discovery and innovation.

Eliminou atrancos que sufría a innovación e a investigación biomédica.

And it helps to ensure that patients like Abigail, Kathleen and Eileen

E axudou a que pacientes coma Abigail, Kathleen e Eileen

have access to the tests that they need.

tivesen acceso aos exames que precisaban.

A few weeks after the court issued its decision,

Poucas semanas despois de que o tribunal emitise a súa decisión,

I received a small package in the mail.

recibín un pequeno paquete na caixa do correo.

It was from Bob Cook-Deegan,

Era de Bob Cook-Deegan,

a professor at Duke University

un profesor da Universidade de Duke

and one the very first people Chris and I went to visit

e unha das primeiras persoas que eu e Chris fomos visitar

when we started to consider whether to bring this case.

cando comezamos a barallar a idea de presentar ou non o caso.

I opened it up to find a small stuffed animal.

Abrino e encontreime cun pequeno boneco de peluche.

(Laughter)

(Risos)

We took a big risk in taking this case.

Arriscámonos moito con este caso.

Part of what gave us the courage to take that risk

Parte do que nos deu a coraxe de afrontar eses riscos

was knowing that we were doing the right thing.

foi saber que estabamos a facer o correcto.

The process took nearly eight years from the start to finish,

O proceso durou case oito anos desde o principio ata a fin,

with many twists and turns along the way.

con moitos xiros e imprevistos polo camiño.

A little luck certainly helped,

Claro que a sorte axudou,

but it was the communities that we bridged,

pero foron as comunidades que unimos,

the alliances that we created,

e as alianzas que creamos,

that made pigs fly.

as que nos deron ás.

Thank you.

Grazas.

(Applause)

(Aplausos)