Indeed, one of the early principles agreed upon by leaders of the Human Genome Project was that the DNA sequence generated should be freely available to the public. This principle was codified in the 1997
Bermuda Principles, which set forth the expectation that all DNA sequence information should be released into publicly available databases within 24 hours of being generated. This policy of open access to the genome has been a core ethos of genomics ever since.
Over the years that this debate has occurred, there have been concerns that large numbers of patents associated with the human genome would limit the integration of genomic medicine into health care because of either restrictive patents or prohibitive costs. Diagnostic tests on patented genes cannot be invented around, as is possible with other patents. This is because the actual DNA sequence to be tested is claimed in the patent, not the method of analyzing the gene to determine its sequence, and so only the patent holder, or their licensees, have the rights to sequence that DNA during the patent's life.