A fruitless first

In 2009, three men started legal action in China's first and only case of genome-related discrimination.

The men claimed the government of Foshan, a city in Guangdong province, had discriminated against them because of a genetic disorder.

They accused the government of refusing to employ them because they each carried a gene known to cause Thalassemia, an inherited disorder that causes the body to produce an abnormal form of hemoglobin, a blood protein that carries oxygen around the body. The abnormality promotes excessive destruction of red blood cells and can result in anemia.