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Nature 418, 470 (1 August 2002) | doi:10.1038/418470b

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Opponents of stem-cell patent win restrictions

Alison Abbott & Oliver Schmidt

A controversial patent covering technologies for purifying human and animal stem cells has been restricted in scope by the European Patent Office (EPO).In a ruling issued on 24 July, the EPO's oppositions division narrowed the patent held by the University of Edinburgh's Centre for Genome Research, invalidating all claims involving animal and human embryonic stem cells.