Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Commentary
  • Published:

Diagnostic testing fails the test

The pitfalls of patents are illustrated by the case of haemochromatosis.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1

References

  1. Merz, J. F. Clin. Chem. 45, 324–330 (1999).

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Wadman, M. Nature 413, 443 (2001).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Thomas, S. M., Davies, A. R .W., Birtwistle, N. J., Crowther, S.M. & Burke, J. F. Nature 380, 387–388 (1996).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Thomas, S. M., Birtwistle, N. J., Brady, M. & Burke, J. F. Nature 388, 709 (1997).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Gochee, P. A. & Powell, L. W. Curr. Opin. Hematol. 8, 98–104 (2001).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Schissel, A., Merz, J. F. & Cho, M. K. Nature 402, 118 (1999).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Cho, M. K. in Preparing for the Millennium: Laboratory Medicine in the 21st Century 47–53 (Am. Assoc. Clin. Chemistry Press, Orlando, Florida, 1998).

  8. Feder, J. N. et al. Nature Genet. 13, 399–408 (1996).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Blumenthal, D., Campbell, E. G., Anderson, M. S., Causino, N. & Seashore, L. K. J. Am. Med. Assoc. 277, 1224–1228 (1997).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Pointon, J. J., Wallace, D., Merryweather-Clarke, A. T. & Robson, K. J. Genet. Test. 4, 151–161 (2000).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Thorstensen, K. et al. Genet. Test. 4, 371–376 (2000).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Heller, M. & Eisenberg, R. Science 280, 698–701 (1998).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

Supported in part by the US NIH. The opinions expressed are those solely of the authors. We thank interview respondents; Elizabeth Miller for research assistance; and Michelle Henry and Meredith Weaver for comments. Preliminary results of this survey were presented in testimony to the US Congress in June 2000, and at the 10th Anniversary of ELSI Research Conference, Bethesda, Maryland, 17–19 Jan 2001.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Merz, J., Kriss, A., Leonard, D. et al. Diagnostic testing fails the test. Nature 415, 577–579 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/415577a

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/415577a

This article is cited by

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing