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The European Group on Ethics in Science and New Technologies (EGE), which advises the European Commission, has issued an opinion on the ethical aspects of patenting inventions involving human stem cells (see Stem cells and cloning page for background information). With one dissenting opinion, the EGE decided that, while it should not be possible to patent unmodified stem cells or stem cell lines, it should be possible to patent techniques for isolating stem cells or for modifying them, genetically or in other ways, in order to make them useful for a specific application. The modified stem cells themselves should also be patentable. In all cases the granting of very broad patents that could "impair further research and development" should be avoided, and the Group suggests that governments should be encouraged to have recourse to compulsory licensing if they think that a misuse of patent rights is restricting access to healthcare. Because of the strong ethical objections, in many European states, to the use of somatic cell nuclear transfer ("therapeutic cloning") to create embryos as a source of stem cells, the EGE recommends that these processes should not be patentable in Europe at present but that there should be a public debate on the issue. The Group also suggests that individuals donating, for example, eggs that may be used for work leading to a patent application, should be told of this possible use and have the option of refusing permission for it. Finally, the EGE report suggests that a publicly accessible EU registry of unmodified human stem cell lines should be set up.