Art. 6(2)(c) of
Directive 98/44/EC, passed by the EU Parliament and Council back in 1998, ruled that, among other things, "uses of human embryos for industrial or commercial
purposes" were to be considered unpatentable because of their being contrary to "ordre public" or morality. After German researcher
Prof. Dr. Oliver Bruestle was granted a
patent concerning a method for creating nerve precursor cells on the basis of embryonic stem cells,
Greenpeace Germany (in German) filed a lawsuit for annulment of the patent. The German Federal Court of Justice then referred to the European Court of Justice the question of whether embryonic stem cell therapy constitutes such a use of human embryos for industrial or commercial purposes, under Directive 98/44/EC.
[more inside]
posted by Skeptic
on May 1, 2011 -
45 comments
