RESEARCHERS RAISE ALARM ABOUT LOSS OF INDIVIDUAL “GENOMIC LIBERTY” DUE TO GENE PATENTS THAT MAY IMPACT THE ERA OF PERSONALIZED MEDICINE

Humans don’t “own” their own genes, the cellular chemicals that define who they are and what diseases they might be at risk for. Through more than 40,000 patents on DNA molecules, companies have essentially claimed the entire human genome for profit, report two researchers who analyzed the patents on human DNA. Their study, published March 25 in the journal Genome Medicine, raises an alarm about the loss of individual “genomic liberty.”

In their new analysis, the research team examined two types of patented DNA sequences: long and short fragments. They discovered that 41 percent of the human genome is covered by longer DNA patents that often cover whole genes. They also found that, because many genes share similar sequences within their genetic structure, if all of the “short sequence” patents were allowed in aggregate, they could account for 100 percent of the genome.

Furthermore, the study’s lead author, Dr. Christopher E. Mason of Weill Cornell Medical College, and the study’s co-author, Dr. Jeffrey Rosenfeld, an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey and a member of the High Performance and Research Computing Group, found that short sequences from patents also cover virtually the entire genome — even outside of genes.

“If these patents are enforced, our genomic liberty is lost,” says Dr. Mason, an assistant professor of physiology and biophysics and computational genomics in computational biomedicine at the Institute for Computational Biomedicine at Weill Cornell. “Just as we enter the era of personalized medicine, we are ironically living in the most restrictive age of genomics. You have to ask, how is it possible that my doctor cannot look at my DNA without being concerned about patent infringement?”

The U.S. Supreme Court will review genomic patent rights in an upcoming hearing on April 15. At issue is the right of a molecular diagnostic company to claim patents not only on two key breast and ovarian cancer genes — BRCA1 and BRCA2 — but also on any small sequence of code within BRCA1, including a striking patent for only 15 nucleotides.

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To hear some people talk, you’d think all older Americans were living large on Easy Street. Policy wonks debate whether older people have too many advantages. Every week, it seems as though Washington comes up with another proposal to cut Social Security benefits, restrict Medicare eligibility or scale back veterans’ benefits.

But a new AARP Florida survey reflects a far more sobering reality for Floridians 50 and older, and by extension, older Americans across the nation:

Some 53 percent of Florida voters age 50-plus now say they plan to put off complete retirement, compared to only 8 percent who say they are very likely to retire as planned.

Asked why they are planning to work past what they considered “retirement age,” 62 percent of them said they will need the money.

Older Floridians overwhelmingly say they are banking on Social Security to be there for them when they retire. Some 83 percent say they expect Social Security to provide income for them in retirement.

By contrast, only 48 percent are expecting a pension from their employer, and less than half expect income from stock investments (46 percent), an IRA (38 percent) or a 401(k) retirement account (33 percent).

More: Every Week, It Seems as Though Washington Comes Up With Another Proposal to Cut Social Security Benefits, Restrict Medicare Eligibility or Scale Back Veterans’ Benefits

“Scott Prouty.”

The fellow on the other end of the phone call pronounced his name with hesitation. For nearly a fortnight, he and I had been building a long-distance rapport via private tweets, emails, and phone conversations as we discussed how best to make public the secret video he had shot of Mitt Romney talking at a private, $50,000-per-plate fundraiser in Boca Raton, Florida. Now I was almost ready to break the story at Mother Jones. I had verified the video, confirming when and where it had been shot, and my colleagues and I had selected eight clips—including Romney’s now-infamous remarks about the 47 percent of Americans he characterized as “victims” unwilling to “take personal responsibility and care for their lives”—to embed in two articles. We had blurred these clips, at the source’s request, to make it difficult to tell where Romney had uttered these revealing comments, while clearly showing that it was Romney speaking. The goal was to afford the source a modicum of protection.

More MoJo coverage of Mitt Romney’s “47 percent” remarks:

The Story Behind the 47 Percent Video

SECRET VIDEO: Romney Tells Millionaire Donors What He REALLY Thinks of Obama Voters

Romney “47 Percent” Fundraiser Host: Hedge Fund Manager Who Likes Sex Parties

Full Transcript of the Mitt Romney Secret Video

Obama Strikes Back—With “47 Percent”

Who Was at Romney’s “47 Percent” Fundraiser?

The source was justifiably worried about repercussions. Once the video was posted, he might lose his job. He might face criminal prosecution or a civil lawsuit. Months earlier, he had anonymously posted a snippet from the video, in which Romney nonchalantly described the work-camp-like living conditions at a Chinese factory he had visited. The source, offended by these comments, had hoped that the short clip would catch fire in the political-media world. But it hadn’t, partly because its context and origins were unknown. The source’s desire to remain in the shadows had hindered his ability to bring the story to the public.

More: Meet Scott Prouty, the 47 Percent Video Source

in a report that will be released on Thursday, the nonprofit Urban Green Council makes the case that the country’s largest population centers needn’t rely on a federal breakthrough. Specifically, the 51-page report, titled “90 by 50,” finds that New York City could slash its emissions by a whopping 90 percent by 2050 without any radical new technologies, without cutting back on creature comforts, and maybe even without breaking its budget.

That’s a far more aggressive target than even the city’s own relatively ambitious goal of reducing emissions by 30 percent by 2030. How is it possible? The strategy has plenty of familiar components—electrifying the transit system, converting to renewable power sources. But it all hinges on one seemingly mundane yet surprisingly potent move: retrofitting almost every building in the city to keep the heat in during the winter and out during the summer. In a nod to Rudy Giuliani, Bill Bratton, and James Q. Wilson, I’ll call it the “triple-pane windows theory” of greenhouse-gas reduction.

The report takes as its starting point this foundational statistic: 75 percent of the readily measured carbon emissions in New York City come from buildings. That makes it very different from the nation as a whole, where agriculture and transportation are among the biggest culprits. At first glance, this looks like an obstacle: Inefficient buildings are much harder to replace than inefficient cars. And New York is already one of the country’s greenest cities per capita, which would seem to make a 90 percent cut more difficult than it would be elsewhe

More: Urban Green Council Report: How New York City Could Cut Emissions by 90 Percent by 2050.

Wonkbook: Everything You Need to Know About the Fiscal Cliff Deal

— Tax rates will permanently rise to Clinton-era levels for families with income above $450,000 and individuals above $400,000. All income below the threshold will permanently be taxed at Bush-era rates.

— The tax on capital gains and dividends will be permanently set at 20 percent for those with income above the $450,000/$400,000 threshold. It will remain at 15 percent for everyone else. (Clinton-era rates were 20 percent for capital gains and taxed dividends as ordinary income, with a top rate of 39.6 percent.)

— The estate tax will be set at 40 percent for those at the $450,000/$400,000 threshold, with a $5 million exemption. That threshold will be indexed to inflation, as a concession to Republicans and some Democrats in rural areas like Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mt.).

— The sequester will be delayed for two months. Half of the delay will be offset by discretionary cuts, split between defense and non-defense. The other half will be offset by revenue raised by the voluntary transfer of traditional IRAs to Roth IRAs, which would tax retirement savings when they’re moved over.

— The pay freeze on members of Congress, which Obama had lifted this week, will be re-imposed.

Also see the Washington Post chart on who pays here — the bottom 20 percent still pay more in overall tax dollars than the top 20 percent, so you can see why some progressives are still calling this a loss.

Poll Finds Republicans Have Much Worse Outlook for 2013

With the new year approaching, Republicans are not feeling as enthusiastic about 2013 as their Democratic counterparts, a new Washington Post-ABC poll finds. Perhaps due to the sweeping Democratic and progressive victories across the country in November, only 25 percent of Republicans feel personally hopeful for what the new year will bring; just 18 percent think the world will be better off in 2013. Democrats are much more hopeful, with 75 percent predicting a good year for themselves

AP-GfK Poll: Obama Approval Rises Postelection, Most Expect 2nd Term Economic Improvement

A month after the bitterly fought election, President Barack Obama has his highest approval ratings since the killing of Osama bin Laden, according to an Associated Press-GfK poll, and more Americans say the nation is heading in the right direction now than at any time since the start of his first term.

Obama’s approval rating stands at 57 percent, the highest since May 2011, when U.S. Navy SEALs killed the terror leader, and up 5 percentage points from before the election. And 42 percent say the country is on the right track, up from 35 percent in January 2009.

A majority think it’s likely that the president will be able to improve the economy in his second term.

Unemployment Rate Drops to Lowest in Four Years - Economy Watch on NBCNews.com

The unemployment rate dropped to 7.7 percent in November, the lowest in four years, as the U.S. economy generated a stronger-than-expected 146,000 jobs, the Labor Department said Friday.

The Labor Department added that Superstorm Sandy, which many had expected to dampen job creation, did not have a substantial impact on the national data.

“It looks like the job market is holding firm,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics. “That’s encouraging in light of all the fiscal uncertainties.”

theincidentaleconomist.com

Can You Pick out the US line in this graph?

What you are looking at is spending on health care as a percentage of GDP going back 30 years. Lest you think I’m cherry picking, I’m showing you data from all 31 OECD countries. It’s not hard to pick out the US line, is it?

We should spend more money than other countries. We’re richer than them. But should we be spending so much more of our GDP on health care?