Controversial cloning patent changed

UK scientists have changed the wording in a controversial patent application covering a method for making genetically altered animals using cells grown in the laboratory. It now specifically excludes the use of the process to clone humans, announced the environmental pressure group Greenpeace last week.

The application, jointly submitted by Edinburgh University and Australian biotech firm Stem Cell Sciences, was approved by the European Patent Office (EPO) last December. But campaigners and some European governments claimed that the wording in the original application could have allowed the cloning of humans. It referred to 'a method of preparing a transgenic animal', but did not include the vital phrase 'non-human'.

The EPO described the error as an embarrassment, and says it will take care to avoid any similar oversights. Peter Mountford, chief scientific officer of Stem Cell Sciences, said he was grateful the oversight had been brought to the company's attention. Although he stressed the technology had never been intended for use on people, he praised Greenpeace for their 'careful monitoring of patents in this complex field and their ongoing efforts to promote proper regulation and debate of such important issues'.