Friday, September 16. 2011
Believe it or not there are people that want to patent human embryos. We all know that the cloning process produces cloned embryos and Michael West, founder and former president of Advanced Cell Technologies said the following in his book The Immortal Cell:A cloned embryo of less than 14 days or perhaps one that hasn't developed a brain is not human, but merely cellular life that can be owned and patented.
And with the U.S. Patent Office continuing to issue patents on naturally occurring genes that we all have in our bodies, legislation that protected the human embryo, cloned or otherwise, from becoming patentable biological material was sorely needed. Today that legislation is closer to becoming law.Rep. Dave Weldon (R-FL), a pro-life doctor, originally proposed the Weldon Amendment to prevent human embryos from being patented. Of course the biotech industry was opposed saying it would hinder stem cell research. But the Weldon Amendment only prevents patents on whole human organisms, not patents on stem cells from human organisms. Today Congress passed the Weldon Amendment as part of the America Invents Act and President Obama is expected to sign it. From LifeNews.com:The provision would ban patents for genetically engineered human embryos or human beings but would not prohibit patents on tissues, cells or other biological products that are not actual humans.
“Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no patent may issue on a claim directed to or encompassing a human organism,” the language says. The ban “shall apply to any application for patent that is pending on, or filed on or after, the date of enactment.”
The Family Research Council praised the passage of the “Weldon Patent Ban” as part of the “America Invents Act” to prevent patenting of human embryos. The issue of placing the language in the legislation was first brought to Congress’ attention by the pro-life group, which takes no position on the bill in full but praises codifying into law a major pro-life provision, also known as a “rider.”
Family Research Council president Tony Perkins told LifeNews: “Passage of the ban on patenting human organisms as part of patent reform is a huge victory for the idea that all human lives, even those of the youngest among us, are valuable and should not be viewed as property. The Patent Office had a policy of rejecting patents on human embryos, and in previous years the Weldon language helped give legal weight to that policy while some scientists wanted to gain a property right on genetically altered humans.”
“I applaud Chairman Lamar Smith, Rep. Chris Smith and House leadership, especially Majority Leader Eric Cantor, for making sure that the Weldon language was part of the patent reform legislation approved by the U.S. Senate,” he said.
“While biotechnology offers great hope for treatments and science should be explored, it must always be in the service of humanity, not the other way around. We must never lose sight of the fact that all human life, including human embryos, deserves legal protection,” Perkins added. “Preventing the patenting of human embryos places America in line with the European Union and other great technologically advanced societies that also realize human life at all stages has inherent dignity. This is a great day for life and a great day for humanity.”
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