Prominent Researchers Join the Attack on Stem Cell Patents.

The article reports on the support given by four prominent stem cell scientists regarding the complaints of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights against the embryonic stem (ES) cell patents being held by the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation of the University of Wisconsin in Madison. The scientists who backed the complaint include Chad Cowan and Douglas Melton of Harvard University, Alan Trounson of Monash University in Australia, and Jeanne Loring of the Burnham Institute for Medical Research in San Diego, California. They argue that the patents based on the work of University of Wisconsin researcher John Thompson cannot be patented because he used already-known technology to cultivate ES cells successfully.