Patenting the human map
As CNN reports, the ACLU has initiated legal actions against the Patent and Trademark Office, Myriad Genetics and the University of Utah Research Foundation to cancel the grant of a patent for a pair of genes, which appear to be responsible for hereditary breast and ovarian cancer.
Holding the patent means that the holder are entitled to limit research and charge for diagnostic tests performed on these genes.
The full article can be found at http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/05/12/us.genes.lawsuit/index.html