Totipotency/Pluripotency and Patentability

¹ Institut für Anatomie, Universitätsklinikum Essen, Hufelandstr. 55, D-45122 Essen (Germany)

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: hans-werner.denker{at}uni-due.de.

	Abstract

In their article entitled "Commentary: Is totipotency of a human cell a sufficient reason to exclude its patentability under the European law" (Stem Cells 2007; 25: 3026–3028) Katja Triller Vrtovec and Bojan Vrtovec conclude that arguments based on the differentiation potential should not be an obstacle to patenting human embryonic stem cells (and related cells addressed as totipotent or pluripotent). While concentrating on formal legal aspects these authors miss to consider, however, a major biological and ethical argument already found in the literature, i.e. that an obstacle for patenting is to be seen in the potential of cells (e.g. of embryonic stem cell lines) if this potential allows to (re)constitute an embryo when tetraploid complementation is performed.