Ruling to stopstem cellpatents

RESEARCHERS have been told they cannot patent and make money from lifesaving therapies using stem cells that resulted in the destruction of human embryos.

The European Court of Justice also ruled that the start of human life was when the egg was fertilised, which may have implications for abortion legislation and fertility treatments.

The court’s decision on stem cells could have far reaching consequences for an area of cutting-edge research the government was interested in developing and which they supported in the court hearing.

Scientists were critical of the decision regarding the start of life, saying it deals a severe blow to European research, while the Catholic Church welcomed the decision.

The case involved German researcher, Oliver Brustle, of the University of Bonn, who 14 years ago, patented a method of generating neurons from stem cells taken from human embryos, which could have been used to treat a range of diseases such as Parkinson’s.

Greenpeace challenged the patent on the basis that it was not in line with the EU’s legislation that says the human embryo could not be patented.

The court in Luxembourg was asked to decide what this covered and if it included all stages of life from fertilisation of the ovum or from some other stage of development.

The court pointed out it was not asked to make decisions on questions of a medical or ethical nature, but just to interpret the legislation on protecting biotech inventions.

The court decided that any human ovum, as soon as fertilised, became a human embryo. The judges also said that a non-fertilised ovum, into which a mature human cell has been transplanted or whose development had been stimulated must also be considered as a human embryo since they are capable of becoming a human being.

Ireland has no legislation on the status of the embryo but last year the Supreme Court ruled that embryos outside the womb are not unborn children under the Constitution.