Courtesy of University of Bonn
The German arm of the environmental lobby group Greenpeace is disputing a patent on the grounds that it allows the commercial exploitation of human stem cells. The group filed a notice of opposition against a patent granted to Oliver Brüstle, a researcher at the University of Bonn who was the first in Germany to receive a license to import human embryonic stem cells for research purposes. In May, the European Patent Office granted the patent, which covers a cell culture method related to a process for deriving neural cells from embryonic stem cells.
"Researchers do not need to file a patent," says Christoph Then, a stem cell expert with Greenpeace. "People who file a patent do so because they see business opportunities, but the commercial exploitation of human embryonic stem cells is banned." Greenpeace believes the outcome of the case could have major implications for ...
