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Regulation of Human Embryonic Stem Cells in Europe

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Legal and Forensic Medicine

Abstract

The benefit of developing new health technologies cannot be doubted, but divorcing this benefit from the moral controversies which surround innovations, such as stem cell therapies, is far from easy. This chapter considers how permissive and cohesive the regulatory landscape, applicable to human stem cells (particularly embryonic stem cells), in Europe is by focusing in detail upon the most controversial areas of patenting and licensing, broadly compared to research funding and specific European Union (EU) regulation. The analysis begins by gently introducing the science behind current innovations. Adopting a legal analysis, the current situation in Europe is identified in terms of patenting: pluripotent stem cells, totipotent cells, induced pluripotent and protein-induced pluripotent stem cells (and for completeness multipotent stem cells), their derivative products, and the processes which create them. This enables the impacts of patenting to be assessed, which identifies that the European patent system and EU approaches are far less restrictive than they appear. This creates a risk of patenting law being misinterpreted as conveying a restrictive moral approach to the technology, rather than the permissive legal approach to patenting innovation that it is. Comparison with the overarching regulation identifies that, despite the broad definition of human embryos adopted by the EU in determining patenting, there is a cohesive approach to regulating human embryonic stem cells. This is structured to maximize the choice of individual Member States in determining how permissively or restrictively they wish to regulate stem cell technology.

This chapter is based on a paper originally presented at the International Conference hosted by SCRIPTed (Edinburgh University) on the Governance of New Technologies in 2009.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Law, University of Sheffield, Bartolome House Winter Street, Sheffield, UK

    Dr. Amanda Warren-Jones (Senior Law Lecturer)

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  1. Dr. Amanda Warren-Jones
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Correspondence to Amanda Warren-Jones .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Chatswood, New South Wales, Australia

    Roy G. Beran

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© 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Warren-Jones, A. (2013). Regulation of Human Embryonic Stem Cells in Europe. In: Beran, R. (eds) Legal and Forensic Medicine. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-32338-6_111

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