Patenting ethics in stem cell research

lw355 — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 07:53:03 +0000

A storm could soon hit European courts over whether it is ethical to patent work involving human embryonic stem cell lines. Scientists fear that the lengthy legal debate could spark more restrictive legislation, or even a ban on such work in Europe.

Professor Austin Smith, Director of the Wellcome Trust Centre for Stem Cell Research at the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge and scientific co-ordinator of the EuroSyStem Project, and other prominent coordinators of European stem cell research bodies, weigh in with an open letter in this week’s Nature supporting the right to patent in this field, now under review by the European Court of Justice.

Arguing that these established cell lines do not involve commercialisation of the human embryo and are superior to other available technologies for developing therapies, they say that European bioindustry must have patent protection in order to realise the clinical benefits of stem cell lines.

“We trust that [the court] will deliberate on the full implications before making a legally binding ruling,” say the signatories.

̽��ֱ��letter plus comments from ethicists and scientists is available on eurostemcell.org, along with the opportunity to comment or add a signature at www.eurostemcell.org/stem-cell-patents

̽��ֱ��EuroSyStem Project is a member of EuroStemCell and is an EC-funded partnership between Europe's top stem cell research groups. ̽��ֱ��Project aims to interlink complementary biological and computational expertise to drive the generation of new knowledge on the characteristics of normal and abnormal stem cells.

Scientists say ‘No’ to a ban on stem cell patents recommended by the European Court of Justice.

European bioindustry must have patent protection in order to realise the clinical benefits of stem cell lines.

Dr Thomas Moreau

Human embryonic stem cell colonies

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Yes

̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge - EuroStemCell

Patenting ethics in stem cell research