1. The Royal Society (ed.), Stem cell research and therapeutic cloning, Doc. 12/00, November 2000; Nuffield Council on Bioethics, Stem Cell Therapy: the ethical issues; UK Department of Health (ed.), Stem Cell Research: Medical Progress with Responsibility, June 2000, No. 2.8. According to figures released by the U.S. government, embryonic stem cell research may eventually lead to therapies that could be used to treat diseases that afflict approximately 128 millions Americans (Stem Cell Fact Sheet, http://www.whitehouse.gov /news/releases/2001 /08/20010809–1.html [13.12.2002]).
2. Somatic gene therapy raises some legal issues as to the release of genetically modified organisms (as contained in aerosols), see M. Herdegen, Rechtliche Regelung der somatischen Gentherapie am Menschen, in T. Herdegen/T. Tölle/M. Behr (eds.), Klinische Neurophysiologie, Heidelberg/Berlin/Oxford, 1997.
3. An absolute prohibition governs the law in Austria (§ 74 of the Genetic Engineering Act), and Germany (§ 5 [1] of Embryo Protection Act). French law allows germ line therapy to cure serious hereditary defects, art. 16 (4) of the code civil.
4. The European Commission estimates that the world-wide market potential of pharmaceutical biotechnology will amount to some 506 billion Euro in 2004 and assumes a constant increase to 818 billion Euro in 2010, European Commission, Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions “Life sciences and biotechnology — A Strategy for Europe”, COM (2002) 27 final, p. 7.
5. See on the German Basic Law (art. 1 [1]) Herdegen, in: Maunz-Dürig, Grundgesetz, art. 1 Abs. 1, paras 62, 63.