Politics EU Court bans stem cell patents

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Nature News: European court bans patents based on embryonic stem cells

Nature said:
Procedures that involve human embryonic stem cells cannot be patented, the European Court of Justice declared today.

Oliver Brüstle, director of the Institute of Reconstructive Neurobiology at the University of Bonn, Germany, who had a patent on a method for generating neurons from human embryonic stem cells rejected by the court, called the ruling "the worst possible outcome", and "a disaster for Europe".

He and other scientists worry that the ruling will cause European companies and scientists to miss out on commercial applications for embryonic-stem-cell research.

I understand the ethics that the court wants to apply by forcing all stem cell discoveries to be released in the public domain. However the judges failed to grasp how strong a financial incentive patents are for scientists. I agree with Nature that this will drive many researchers out of Europe, and that is a real pity. If the Republicans were to win the next election in the US, they could re-instigate the ban on stem cell research, like under G.W. Bush. This would be a disaster for the Western world, giving a serious edge to countries like China.
 
Nature News: European court bans patents based on embryonic stem cells



I understand the ethics that the court wants to apply by forcing all stem cell discoveries to be released in the public domain. However the judges failed to grasp how strong a financial incentive patents are for scientists. I agree with Nature that this will drive many researchers out of Europe, and that is a real pity. If the Republicans were to win the next election in the US, they could re-instigate the ban on stem cell research, like under G.W. Bush. This would be a disaster for the Western world, giving a serious edge to countries like China.

I just saw the interview with Brüstle on TV a few minutes ago, and these thoughts were exactly mine, too! :annoyed:
 

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