``Babies with a severe form of epilepsy risk having their diagnosis delayed and their treatment compromised because of a company's patent on a key gene.

``It is the first evidence that private intellectual property rights over human DNA are adversely affecting medical care.

``Deepak Gill, head of neurology at the Children's Hospital at Westmead, said he would test at least 50 per cent more infants for the SCN1A gene - which would diagnose the disabling Dravet syndrome - if the hospital could conduct the test in-house.

``But rights to the gene are controlled by the Melbourne-based Genetic Technologies, which has already threatened to stop public hospitals testing for breast cancer gene mutations, and the hospital will not risk a similar problem.''

SOURCE

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/sick-babies-denied-treatment-in-dna-row/2008/11/28/1227491827171.html