On Jun. 13, 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court Justices ruled 9-0 that naturally occurring DNA cannot be patented, but that synthetically created cDNA is patent eligible. The Court heard arguments in the case of Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics on April 15.

While the court ruled out “natural” DNA patents, it also permitted cDNA patents. Although “cDNA retains the naturally occurring exons of DNA … it is distinct from the DNA from which it was derived,” the court wrote. “As a result, cDNA is not a ‘product of nature’ and is patent eligible.”