1.   Cargill says it has not patented any genes from indigenous Indian plants and has not exported any seeds from India.

2.   And there is concern that if these genes are patented it would discourage other scientists from doing research using the same genes.

3.   A group of Chicago parents and the Canavan Foundation have filed a lawsuit against a Miami hospital that patented the gene for Canavan disease.

4.   But it is not clear whether a gene whose natural function is unknown could be patented for another purpose.

5.   But the new guidelines clearly state that patenting genes and even fragments of genes is legal.

6.   Calgene recently patented a gene that controls cotton pigments to produce blue and red cotton.

7.   Calgene Inc. said it patented a gene that controls cotton pigments and that it plans to grow naturally colored red and blue cotton.

8.   Douglas said Millennium patents genes the company identifies as well as its discoveries about the functions of genes in disease.

9.   He cites Amgen, which became a giant because it patented the gene that produces the blood-boosting protein Epoetin alpha.

10.   If genes can be patented, biotech prospectors want to know, what about pieces of genes?