Because a biotech patent granted by the European Patent Office late last year omitted a key phrase, a patent for what appears to be an impermissible technology issued to Scotland’s University of Edinburgh.

The claim for Patent 0695351 covers “a method of preparing a transgenic animal” but did not include the term “nonhuman.” As a result, the patent appears to grant the rights to genetic manipulation of humans, which is barred under European Union guidelines.