Human cloning loophole closed

Cloning research has triggered concerns it may be used to reproduce humans

BERLIN, Germany -- A loophole in a controversial patent that allowed human cloning has been closed, the European Patent Office has said.

Opponents had protested against the 1999 patent, saying it could be used to clone humans and cross-breed animal species, creating such beasts as "pig-horses".

But the European Patent Office added restrictions on Wednesday, saying the move would prevent such experiments.

"With today's decision, we have put a stop to the commercial exploitation of embryonic stem cells for the time being," Christof Keussen, a patent lawyer for the German government, told Reuters news agency.

Greenpeace also welcomed the ruling saying it should strike out all patent claims related to human embryos, although it called for clearer guidelines from the European Union.

EXTRA INFORMATION In-Depth: The stem cell debate     QUICKVOTE Should scientists be allowed to clone human embryos? Yes, unconditionally Yes, but only for medical purposes No View Results

The Munich-based European Patent office said it had revised the patent granted to Edinburgh University, Scotland, in December 1999 on altering animal cells following objections from 14 parties.

"The much-discussed 'Edinburgh' patent... no longer includes human or animal embryonic stem cells," the European Patent Office (EPO) said in a statement after three days of hearings.

The patent breached a European Patent Convention barring the use of human embryos for commercial purposes, the EPO said.

Edinburgh University and an Australian biotech firm Stem Cell Sciences were awarded the patent to genetically alter the cells of mammals.

The patent related to a genetic engineering method to isolate stem cells -- the master cells that can develop into different cell types such as blood, brain and bones -- including embryonic cells, in cell cultures.

Some researchers say they offer the potential to treat diseases such as Parkinson's and diabetes and regenerate damaged organs or tissue.

The patent office told Reuters its officials had not noticed a reference to human cells in the original 235-page patent application document, but had acknowledged a few months after granting the patent that it had made a mistake in doing so.

The office had to wait for outside parties, including the governments of Germany, Italy and the Netherlands and German Greenpeace, to file motions expressing opposition before it was able to amend the document.

Observers say the ruling is likely to set a limit on embryonic research by ensuring no patent protection for embryonic stem cells and the creation of human clones or animal cross-breeds.

Researchers will still be able to secure patents for technology involving adult stem cells, whose cultures contain fewer and less flexible stem cells than embryos.

The issue of cloning has sparked controversy around the world, although many doctors and patients' groups want to see cloning technology used in medical research.

Scientists from Britain's Roslin Institute, on the outskirts of Edinburgh, stunned the world in 1996 by creating Dolly the sheep, the first animal to be cloned from an adult cell.