Under threat: Scientists claim a major European ruling on the morality of stem cell research will have catastrophic consequences
Stem cell research could be put in jeopardy by a European ruling on the morality of its use in medicine, scientists fear.
They claim that a decision to ban the patenting of treatments based on cells derived from embryos will have catastrophic consequences for the multi-billion pound European biotech industry and the UK economy.
It will also leave patients powerless to obtain the latest treatments for conditions such as blindness, Alzheimer’s and Motor Neurone disease, they claim.
But critics of stem cell research say it is immoral to plunder an unborn baby to advance medicine– and we cannot create a‘spare parts trade’ in which one human life is sacrificed for the good of another.
The scientists’ fears centre around a test case being heard at the European Court of Justice which could result in a EU-wide ban on patenting techniques that use human embryonic stem cells as a‘repair kit’ for the body.
The cells, which are taken from embryos in the first days, are capable of turning into any of the cell types found in the body and could therefore have great potential for treating and curing disease by replacing cells and tissue.
Despite the controversial origins of the cells, the research has been invested in heavily by governments, charities and universities in recent years and the first trials on blind and paralysed patients are under way.
But the case, triggered by Greenpeace, could put all European research of this kind on ice, 13 leading scientists state in a letter published in the journal Nature.
A preliminary ruling by the court has stated that patenting the technology would be tantamount to making industrial use of human embryos, which‘would be contrary to ethics and public policy’.
The final decision is due in the next few weeks but few preliminary options are reversed and any ban on patents would be binding across the EU.
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