Multiple groups representing medical researchers and practitioners are asking Congress to reject proposed legislation that would allow businesses and individuals to patent human genes.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers have introduced a bill that would make several changes to the Patent Act, including overturning a U.S. Supreme Court ruling from 2013 that prohibits the patenting of human genes because they are a "product of nature," according to the news site Science.

"Every day in my home state of Ohio, leaders in the fields of biologics research and diagnostics invest their time to discover lifesaving cures," bill co-sponsor Rep. Steve Stivers (R-Ohio) said in a statement. "American startups in these and every industry revolutionize technology usage and have the opportunity to propel our society forward with innovative discoveries and products, but we must work to protect these innovators with the ability to secure a patent that rewards their risk and investment."

However, in a letter addressed to the legislation's sponsors, more than 100 organizations said the bill could actually hamper the development of new treatments for life-threatening diseases by giving patent holders the ability to monopolize discoveries about the human genome. Signatories include the Association for Molecular Pathology (AMP), the Association of Community Cancer Centers, the Association of Pathology Chairs, the Endocrine Society and the ACLU.

"Patients will again be at risk of lacking access to information about their genes, about their very selves," the groups said in the letter. "We likely will again see high prices for tests with no competition in the market, and harms to innovation and useful research with no guarantee that the law would eventually provide the same protections that it now offers."

AMP also issued a separate statement echoing many arguments in letter, but adding its concern about how the bill came about.

"The fact that the new proposed legislation was drafted with input only from a select group of patent holders, lawyers, large corporations, and the pharmaceutical industry should be of grave concern to the public," AMP President Victoria Pratt, an elected post, said.

The U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary is currently holding hearings on the Senate version of the bill. http://bit.ly/2HX1fx1

MORE CEO DATELINE

• ASAE names nominees to board of directors
• Report: Exhibitions, events contributed billions to U.S. economy
• Tech group lifts ban on Chinese company Huawei
• Associations blast U.S. tariffs on Mexico
• Solar industry group adds energy storage, manufacturing divisions