Legislation..

In May 1998 the European Parliament approved new legislation that allowed biotechnology companies to claim exclusive rights to the commercial use of genes, including human genes. Opponents to the new measure argued that it would effectively allow companies to ‘patent life’, and warned that it would lead to an explosion in healthcare costs. However, in last minute concessions won from ministers, the MEPs ensured that the Europe-wide legislation outlawed cloning and patenting of human embryos, therapies that would transmit genetic changes to a person's descendants, and prevented patenting where modification of genetic make-up would cause suffering without any ‘substantial’ benefit to man or animal.
European legislation on the production, health, and environmental implications of biotechnology applications is being continually amended to keep pace with the speed of development in this field.