Woman with &quot;Free Our Genes&quot; sign  Lisa Schlager of
Chevy Chase, Maryland, demonstrates outside of the Supreme Court
as arguments were made in a case seeking to determine whether
human genes can be patented.  Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call/Getty
Images  How Gene Patents Work  Patent X000072 was issued to Eli
Whitney for the cotton gin. Alexander Graham Bell picked up
patent 174,465 for the telephone. Patent 6281 was granted to
Walter Hunt for his invention of the safety pin [source:
Bieberich].  And patent 8,017,761? Well that's easy. It was
issued to Merck pharmaceutical company for "RNA interference
mediated inhibition of Stearoyl-CoA desaturase gene expression
using short interfering nucelic acid" [source: United States
Trademark and Patent Office].  Then again, maybe it's not so
easy.  While most of us think of patents covering things like
toasters, tractors and turntables, the fact is that since 1982,
the U.S. Patent and Trade office has been issuing patents on
genetic material as well. In fact, ther