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Use of embryonic stem cells cannot be patented, top EU court rules
Oct 18, 2011, 11:13 GMT
Luxembourg - The use of embryonic stem cells for scientific research cannot be patented, the European Union's top court ruled on Tuesday, finding that an ovum is a human embryo as soon as it is fertilized and that its destruction would violate 'human dignity.'
Even non-fertilized ovums that have been manipulated scientifically and are thus 'capable of commencing the process of development of a human being' should be considered human embryos, the European Court of Justice found.
'The EU legislature intended to exclude any possibility of patentability where respect for human dignity could thereby be affected,' the court said in a statement.
'An invention is excluded from patentability where the implementation of the process requires either the prior destruction of human embryos or their prior use as base material,' it added.
The Luxembourg-based court was asked to weigh in on the matter by Germany's top court, before which Greenpeace is appealing a German scientist's patent that calls for the use of embryonic stem cells to treat neurological diseases such as Parkinson's disease.
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