......Doctors' ability to diagnose and study a debilitating disease caused by iron overload in the body is being hampered by the patenting of a key gene.
The disease, called haemochromatosis, affects up to 20,000 Britons and two common mutations in the gene known as HFE are thought to be responsible for 80-85% of cases of the illness.
http://www.theguardian.com/science/2002/feb/07/genetics.medicalscience