It’s not often that I find myself saying anything positive about the secular fundamentalist monolith, which is the European Union. The latest news from Brussels is, however, very encouraging. Read on:

 

 

European Court of Justice: No Patentability For Procedures That Require Destruction Of Human Embryo

 

Brussels, 18/10/2011

 

In a judgment released today on the matter of “Oliver Brüstle vs. Greenpeace” (Case No. C-34/10), the European Court of Justice clearly found that destructive research on human embryos cannot be patented. The Court further established a broad and scientifically sound definition of the “human embryo”. The judgment is a milestone in the protection of human life in Europe.

 

The ECJ confirmed today the March 2011 opinion of Advocate General Yves Bot that cells that have the ability to develop into a human being (totipotent cells) are to be legally regarded as human beings and are thus excluded from possible patentability.

 

The German Federal Court (Bundesgerichtshof) had called upon the ECJ to clarify the concept of ‘human embryo’ which is not defined in Directive 98/44/EC on the legal protection of biotechnological inventions. This was a reaction to the appeal of German researcher Oliver Brüstle against a judgment of the German Federal Patent Court which had ruled that Mr. Brüstle’s patent on neural precursor cells was invalid in so far as the obtaining of these cells presupposes the destruction of human embryos.

 

More precisely, the ECJ had to answer the question whether the exclusion from patentability of the human embryo expressed in the Directive covers all stages of life – from fertilization of the ovum onwards – or whether other conditions must be met (such as, for example, whether a certain stage of development must be reached).

 

The Court gave a clear and unequivocal response: The protections granted in Directive 98/44/EC cover all stages of life. The human embryo is an organism “capable of commencing the process of development of a human being”, said the Court. Thus the Court defines the “human embryo” as:

 

  • A human ovum, as soon as fertilised if that fertilisation is such as to commence the process of development of a human being.

  • A non-fertilised human ovum into which the cell nucleus from a mature human cell has been transplanted

  • A non-fertilised human ovum whose division and further development have been stimulated by parthenogenesis.

 

The Court has thus upheld the idea that a scientific invention cannot be patented if the process of implementation of said invention requires either the prior destruction of human embryos or their prior use as base material – even if, as in the Brüstle case, the description of that process in the original patent application does not refer to the use of human embryos.

 

According to the Court, the context and aim of Directive 98/44/EC show that the EU legislature intended to exclude any possibility of patentability where respect for human dignity could thereby be affected.

 

European Dignity Watch welcomes the judgment as landmark decision and sees it as a great step forward in obtaining a strong commitment throughout the EU to protect the dignity of the human person. “We expect the European Commission to evaluate the next Research Framework Program light of the judgment and adjust where necessary. The EU cannot go on funding research that involved the destruction of human embryos as it does up to now”, said Sophia Kuby, Director of the EDW.

 

Although EDW supports biotechnology research, it shares the hope of Dr. Peter Liese, MEP and EPP Group Coordinator in the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety Committee of the European Parliament, that research will now go into more ethically-acceptable alternatives – such as the very successful research that has been seen with adult stem cells and iPS cells.

 

For further information, please contact

 

Sophia Kuby, European Dignty Watch

 

skuby@europeandignitywatch.org

 

+32 477 57 00 46.

 

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