Patenting, morality and human embryonic stem cell science: bioethics and cultural politics in Europe

Abstract

As the recent experience of the European Patent Office graphically demonstrates, there is an inherent political tension between the individual ownership rights necessary for the operation of an international market in human embryonic stem cell science and the communal values of the many cultures in which such markets operate. This report examines the basis of the conflict between patenting and morality at national and international levels, the manifestation of those tensions in European patenting policy, and the contribution of bioethics to the attempt by European institutions to develop a governance response.