EU court says unfertilized ova not human embryos

An ovum whose development has been stimulated without fertilization and which is not capable of becoming a human being cannot be considered a human embryo, argued Advocate General Cruz Villalon from the European Court of Justice. The International Stem Cell Corp. (OTCBB:ISCO), which is appealing a decision from the U.K. Intellectual Property Office rejecting two patent applications from the biotech on the grounds that the inventions "entail uses and even the destruction" of human embryos. The applications cover a technology that produces pluripotent stem cells from parthenogenetically activated oocytes.

Under the EU's Biotechnology Directive, the use of human embryos for industrial or commercial purposes are excluded from patentability. According to Villalon, when assessing if an unfertilized ovum should be regarded as a human embryo, the decisive criterion is whether the unfertilized ovum has the "inherent capacity" of developing into a human being. He added that organisms resulting from parthenogenesis should be excluded from the definition of human embryos since they lack that "inherent capacity." The Court of Justice, which normally follows the opinion of the advocate general, is beginning its deliberations and is expected to give its judgment later. ...