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Genetics
April 2, 2010
Local woman who won gene patent suit to be on 60 Minutes
A Lago Vista woman will be on 60 Minutes Sunday to talk about successfully challenging a genetic testing company’s patenting of two genes that substantially heighten a woman’s risk of breast or ovarian cancer.
You may have read about Genae Girard in the Statesman either online Monday or in Tuesday’s print edition after she won a key round in her case in federal district court in New York against Myriad Genetics of Salt Lake City.
Girard had a double mastectomy and her ovaries removed four years ago after contracting cancer and learning from Myriad that she had a mutation in one of the two genes Myriad patents. But before going through with those surgeries, Girard, who was then 36, divorced and childless, wanted a second opinion on Myriad’s test. She couldn’t get one because of the patent.
In New York on Monday, U.S. District Judge Robert Sweet ruled in favor of Girard, the ACLU, scientists and the other plaintiffs, saying that while Myriad deserved praise for its work, it did not have the right to patent DNA. The case could have far-reaching implications if it ends up at the U.S. Supreme Court.
“I believe (the ruling) is going to change decision-making for all women” who get a positive genetic test for the mutation, Girard said Monday. “They’re going to have the ability to get validity on the test by getting it run by multiple companies. They can get a second opinion now.”
Girard, now 40, said that while it may be too late for her, she hopes other women who face a life-altering decision like she did will one day have an option she did not have.
In a brief snippet of the transcript provided by 60 Minutes, Girard tells Morley Safer on camera, “I think Myriad Laboratory is a very reputable company. But I know for a fact that there’s human error that exists in laboratories. And I would have felt a lot better about these decisions if I had that.”
The show airs at 6 p.m. Central Time on CBS.
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August 25, 2008
UPDATE: Sperm U airs tonight at 6.....At sperm bank, parents picked athlete
UPDATE: The time reported below for ESPN’s E:60 has been corrected to 6 p.m.
When a Round Rock couple considering sperm donors named the traits important to them in a child, athletic ability ultimately won out.
“I kind of let my husband pick. Randy wanted someone who was very athletic,” Kristie Rodriguez told me in an interview.
The Rodriguezes found themselves in the position of choosing traits when they wanted to start a family because Randy had suffered a childhood sports injury and they could not conceive. Kristie, 36, said a sperm donor gave her the chance to carry a baby.
Randy, who is 50, used to play football. Kristie said she also was athletic. When their doctor recommended a sperm bank in California, they initially had different ideas on the ideal donor, Randy says in an upcoming TV interview. But they ultimately agreed: They chose a college football player who was 6 foot 3 inches tall, 230 pounds with blond hair and blue eyes.
The couple is being featured on ESPN’s E:60, a news magazine. The program featuring the Rodriguezes airs this Tuesday at 6 p.m. The report, “Sperm U,” suggests that more couples are choosing sperm donors who are athletes. It also says the sperm bank invests more heavily in recruiting “jock” sperm, which sells faster than sperm from donors who are non-athletes.
The report shows the Rodriguez’s daughter, Chloe, 4, going through gymnastics training. She’s in a class with kids twice her age, the report says.
“The minute she could start walking she was kicking a soccer ball,” Kristie told me.
The couple also has another child, Ava, 11 months, from the same sperm donor.
That the children are healthy and happy are the most important things, Kristie said. “If they turn out to be true athletes, it’s icing on the cake,” she said.
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