populations to preserve a record of human diversity and evolution before these rare groups disappear into history. But opponents fear that the discovery of useful genes will inevitably lead to the patenting and marketing of portions of the human genome, an outcome they attack as exploitive and immoral. Writing to the National Science Foundation about the Human Genome Diversity Project, Leon Shenandoah of the Council of Chiefs of the Onandaga Nation proclaimed: "Your process is unethical, invasive, and may even be criminal. It violates the group rights and human rights of our peoples and indigenous peoples around the world. Your project involves the very genetic structures of our beings."

In Europe, the issue came before an appeal board when the Green Party of the European Parliament opposed an EPO decision to grant a patent for a human DNA fragment encoding a particular protein. Opponents argued that the DNA code was a discovery rather than an invention, and that giving a patent for a human gene offends morality.

The appeal board ruling dismissed both claims. On the first point, EPO guidelines permit natural substances to be recognized as novel when they are isolated for the first time. On the question of morality, the board ruled that the mere act of taking human tissue was not, as claimed, "an offense against human dignity" if the person from whom the tissue is taken consents. Taking tissue samples is standard practice in medical procedures. Nor can the patenting of human genes be considered "a form of modern slavery," since a patent to genes does not give any rights over the person from whom the genes were taken.