Scientists Enter Stem Cell Patents Fight

July 4, 2007

Some high-profile scientists have jumped into the fight over the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s stem cell patents, supporting the effort to have them revoked. The California-based Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights and others are challenging patents that cover discoveries by UW researcher Jamie Thomson, who was the first to grow and isolate human embryonic stem cells in 1998. The Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, the university’s research arm, holds the patents covering the cells and research techniques used by many American scientists. Critics say its license fees have stifled the young field.