A 1992 poll of American citizens found that 68 percent of people questioned knew little or nothing about genetic testing, but 79 percent would undergo testing before having children to learn whether their child might inherit a fatal genetic disease. About three-quarters of people questioned favor strict regulations on the use of genetic screening.

That piece of legalese above is part of the patent for gene therapy issued in March 1995 to William French Anderson, Michael Blaese, and Steven Rosenberg—scientists whose research I described beginning on page 65. Because much of their work on this technique was undertaken for the U.S. National Institutes of Health, the patent rights were assigned to the U.S. government. The government then gave a private company, Genetic Therapy Inc. (GTI) of Maryland, exclusive license to commercialize the technology. Essentially, a medical procedure developed at public expense was privatized. This move generated controversy in industry, government, and university labs around the United States over the limits this might place on other labs and hospitals to carry out treatments on their patients.