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Two companies aiming to create an artificial “embryo” by merging the nucleus
of a human cell with a pig egg have abandoned their attempt to patent the
process after a Greenpeace exposé. “It was never our intention to claim
patents that would cover human embryos or human reproductive cloning,” says
Julia Greenstein of BioTransplant in Charlestown, Massachusetts. Both companies
deny the decision was in response to the Greenpeace campaign, but the pressure
group is claiming victory. “These are the first biotech companies to admit
having gone too far in claiming patents on human embryos,” it says in a press…