On 18 October 2011, the EU Court of Justice passed a historic judgment on the patenting of projects that involved stem cells obtained from human embryos, which would then be destroyed.  The ruling would have far-fetching repercussion on the already controversial aspect of obtaining and utilizing stem cell for research and therapeutic use. The ruling, the Court indicated would apply to all the countries that form the European Union.

What Did The Ruling Say?

The Court’s ruling is specifically to protect the human dignity, even if it is in its embryonic stage. As per a statement released to the press the Directive is said to “exclude any possibility of patentability where respect for human dignity could thereby be affected”.

Defining the “human embryo”, the Court said that the term covers a fertilized egg, right from the moment it is fertilized, if that can normally develop into a human being. The meaning of a “human embryo”, the Court pointed is the beginning of a human life and this means it covers stem cells, if these are capable to develop later into a human being.

The ruling is explicit about the fact that no human embryo can be used for harvesting of stem cells, with the result of the destruction of the embryo. The exception to this ruling would be only when the research or medical intervention is to sustain the life or improve the quality of the life of the human being that would develop out of that particular embryo.

What Is The Significance Of This Ruling?

The research with and on stem cells has since beginning attracted a lot of controversy just like research on human cloning did. While the potential of this research can prove extremely useful to human kind, it is true that it has just as equal scope to develop into unethical medical research that affects the dignity of human life as we know it.

The present ruling of EU Court would mean that the stem research in EU would decrease considerably. Whatever research would  still happen would move out of Europe predictably to the USA where the laws are still pro-research of stem cells. Funding of stem cell research in Europe would become more and more difficult for this would shift to the USA-based medical research.