The courts have ruled in favor of the Jérôme Lejeune Foundation in a case concerning the manipulation of embryos in the laboratory.
This victory was obtained in June 2023 before the administrative courts, and it falls within the mission of the LeJeune Foundation to protect human beings.
The decision of the Council of State dated June 8 is final. In this dispute, the judge revoked a research authorization on embryos, arguing that the research team had not sufficiently limited the use of embryos, given the available scientific advances. The judge also emphasized that more extensive research on animal models should have been conducted.
This victory holds symbolic importance, as it concludes a legal procedure that began in 2015. Fundamentally, the judge reaffirmed that, according to French law, the protection of the human embryo takes precedence over that of animals.
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This decision takes on particular significance at a time when many researchers express concerns about the use of animals in research and favor human embryos.
This success underscores the importance of continuous legal and scientific vigilance, made possible through the support of the Foundation's many backers. It becomes all the more crucial given that French legislation, over the years, has gradually reduced the protection afforded to the embryo, raising concerns about the manipulations it undergoes in the laboratory, even as collective societal concern for it diminishes.