Mark Skolnick is a geneticist who was involved in early genetic linkage studies involving Mormons. In 1990, he formed a company called Myriad Genetics to use the power of the Mormon family history and pedigrees to help map and clone genes. Myriad's first target was a breast cancer gene (BRCA1). In 1994, a group from Myriad and their collaborators announced that they located a strong candidate for BRCA1. Their patent on this gene was granted in 1997. Although they were not the first to find the second breast cancer gene (BRCA2), Myriad was the first to isolate it. They patented BRCA2 in 2001. (DNAi location: Applications > Genes and Medicine > Gene hunting > Mark Skolnick)

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