The European Court of Justice has protected the rights of embryos

The court banned the patenting of discoveries in the field of stem cell productionRAPSI

The EU Court has issued a precedent-setting decision prohibiting the patenting of discoveries in the field of obtaining and researching embryonic stem cells, follows from a press release posted on the court's website.

The Supreme Court of Germany, considering the claim of the organization "Greenpeace" to the German scientist Oliver Brustle, appealed to the EU Court for appropriate explanations. He invented a way to transform stem cells into nerve progenitor cells, thanks to which a number of diseases can be cured, including sclerosis and Parkinson's disease. However, Greenpeace considered Brustle's research unethical and appealed the patent he received.

The Patent Office of the Federal Republic of Germany declared the patent illegal, citing the need to protect human dignity and human life. The decision was appealed to the Supreme Court of Germany, which appealed to the EU Court for clarification.

He, in turn, noted that the extraction of stem cells from the embryo inevitably leads to its death. In this regard, the court considered the receipt and research of embryonic stem cells a violation of generally accepted moral norms.

Thus, the court banned the granting of patents for stem cell research and allowed only those discoveries in this field that serve to diagnose embryos or correct them to be patented.

Stem cells are of great interest to scientists and doctors, as they have the ability to transform into cells of any type in the body, of which there are more than 200. Unfortunately, the adult organism is practically devoid of these cells, and significant amounts of them are formed only at the stage of human embryonic development.

Research and experiments with the use of embryonic stem cells are ambiguously perceived in the world, since working with embryonic stem cells leads to the destruction of human embryos. In some countries, such research is prohibited, in others, in particular, in the United States, it is prohibited to conduct such research at public expense. In turn, in Germany, it is legally prohibited to obtain embryonic stem cells, but studies of such cells brought from abroad are allowed.

Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru18.10.2011