Should human genes be patentable?

The issue came up at a seminar.  My gut reaction was to agree with James Watson, co-discoverer of the DNA double helix, that patenting human genes is "lunacy".  In June, Watson reiterated his beliefs in an amicus brief filed in a lawsuit against patents on two human genes associated with breast and ovarian cancer.  A central legal question in this lawsuit is whether human genes are "products of man", which you can patent, or "products of nature", which you can't.

But maybe I'm wrong on this.  At the seminar where the issue came up, a professor contended that the thing being patented is the kit for isolating a particular cancer gene, not the gene itself.  Kits are man-made, commercial products.  Kits help the advancement of science and medicine by making it easy for researchers to isolate a biological agent and start doing further experiments with it, without having to re-invent the proverbial wheel.  

However, according to the ACLU the patents don't claim the kits, but the genes themselves:

"Gene patents – unlike patents on drugs or tests – cannot be “invented around” because they claim DNA itself. While another company can create a new drug to treat the same condition as another patented drug, patents on DNA block access to people’s genetic information. They stop other labs from testing the patented genes – regardless of the testing method that is used or whose sample is tested – and chill research, impeding the progress of science."

So I'm not sure what to think.  Patents don't last forever, so whatever the courts decide, sooner or later all genetic information will end up in the public domain.

What do you think?

Member of House Committee on Science: evolution, embryology, big bang theory are "lies straight from the pit of Hell"

Here is Congressman Paul Broun (R-Ga.), secretly filmed at a church-sponsored event, enlightening the audience with his breathtaking knowledge of all things science.  This guy is a medical doctor, a member of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology and chairs its Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight.  Words fail me.