of breast cancer for women with brca2 mutations.: 113–142 being physically active and maintaining a healthy body weight prevents breast and other cancers in the general population, as well as preventing heart disease and other medical conditions. among women with a brca mutation, being physically active and having had a healthy body weight as an adolescent has no effect on ovarian cancer and delays, but does not entirely prevent, breast cancer after menopause.: 113–142 in some studies, only significant, strenuous exercise produced any benefit.: 113–142 obesity and weight gain as an adult are associated with breast cancer diagnoses.: 113–142 studies on specific foods, diets, or dietary supplements have generally produced conflicting information or, in the case of dietary fat, soy consumption, and drinking green tea, have only been conducted in average-risk women.: 113–142 the only dietary intervention that is generally accepted as preventing breast cancer in brca mutation carriers is minimizing consumption of alcoholic beverages. consuming more than one alcoholic drink per day is strongly associated with a higher risk of developing breast cancer, and carriers are usually encouraged to consume no more than one alcoholic drink per day, and no more than four total in a week.: 113–142 in a study conducted with ashkenazi jewish women, it was observed that mutation carriers born before 1940 have a much lower risk of being diagnosed with breast cancer by age 50 than those born after 1940; this was also observed in the non-carrier population. the reasons for the difference is unknown. unlike the general population, age at menarche and age at menopause has no effect on breast cancer risk for brca mutation carriers.: 113–142 evolutionary advantage several hypotheses propose that brca mutations might have evolutionary advantages, such as higher intelligence. the ashkenazi intelligence hypothesis was proposed by gregory cochran and asserts that a defect in the brca1 gene might unleash neural growth. studies have shown that brca1 mutations are not random, but under adaptive selection, indicating that although brca1 mutations are linked to breast cancer, the mutations likely have a beneficial effect as well. patents a patent application for the isolated brca1 gene and cancer-cancer promoting mutations discussed above, as well as methods to diagnose the likelihood of getting breast cancer, was filed by the university of utah, national institute of environmental health sciences (niehs) and myriad genetics in 1994; over the next year, myriad, in collaboration with investigators from endo recherche, inc., hsc research & development limited partnership, and university of pennsylvania, isolated and sequenced the brca2 gene and identified key mutations, and the first brca2 patent was filed in the us by myriad and other institutions in 1995. myriad is the exclusive licensee of these patents and has enforced them in the us against clinical diagnostic labs. this business model led to myriad growing being a startup in 1994 to being a publicly traded company with 1200 employees and about $500m in annual revenue in 2012; it also led to controversy over high prices and the inability to get second opinions from other diagnostic labs, which in turn led to the landmark association for molecular pathology v. myriad genetics lawsuit. the patents began to expire in 2014. according to an article published in the journal, genetic medicine, in 2010, "the patent story outside the united states is more complicated.... for example, patents have been obtained but the patents are being ignored by provincial health systems in canada. in australia and the uk, myriad's licensee permitted use by health systems, but announced a change of plans in august 2008. ... only a single mutation has been patented in myriad's lone european-wide patent, although some patents remain under review of an opposition proceeding. in effect, the united states is the only jurisdiction where myriad's strong patent position has conferred sole-provider status." peter meldrum, ceo of myriad genetics, has acknowledged that myriad has "other competitive advantages that may make such enforcement unnecessary" in europe. legal decisions surrounding the brca1 and brca2 patents will affect the field of genetic testing in general. in june 2013, in association for molecular pathology v. myriad genetics (no. 12-398), the us supreme court unanimously ruled that, "a naturally occurring dna segment is a product of nature and not patent eligible merely because it has been isolated," invalidating myriad's patents on the brca1 and brca2 genes. however, the court also held that manipulation of a gene to create something not found in nature could still be eligible for patent protection.