one-fifth of human genes have been patented

National Geographic points out the startling results of a recent study: twenty percent of the 24,000 human genes have been patented. What's more, 63% of these patents are owned by private firms (28% belong to universities).

"While this does not quite boil down to [the patent holders] owning our genes ... these rights exclude us from using our genes for those purposes that are covered in the patent," says Fiona Murray, the study's co-author.

So you won't have to pay royalties when passing your genetic code onto your progeny - just don't try to do something silly like research your DNA in order to develop life-saving medicines. I doubt that kind of behaviour would fall under "fair use".