There are several ethical issues that are raised while working with stem cells. The ethical issues provides detailed descriptions of the arguments adopted by proponents of stem cell research. At the turn of the millennium, some of the most controversial topics being internationally debated were the issues of embryonic stem cell research and cloning. Stem cells hold the promise of helping us treat a host of diseases and conditions, from spinal cord injuries to parkinsons.
Ideally, scientists should communicate the results of their research in ways that will be readily understandable to a diverse audience, and participate in public discussions related to stem cell research. Ipscs gained immediate international attention for their apparent similarity to embryonic stem cells after their successful creation in 2006 by shinya yamanaka and in 2007 by james thompson and others. They also argue that stem cells can not only increase the average quantity of life but also the quality of life of those older individuals. But as usual there are also questions of efficiency and cost as well as security. Ethical issues in stem cell research and therapy stem. The collection of tissue from one individual for therapeutic use in another individual involves not only technical and medical issues, but also ethical and legal issues. This urges scientists who work with embryonic stem cells to be responsible, ethical and sensitive in their work. The ethical issues were addressed in a 2005 guidelines for research with human embryonic stem cells by the national academies. Ethical issues in stem cell research and treatment cell. Mar 22, 2009 stem cell definition a cell that has the ability to continuously divide and differentiate develop into various other kinds of cells tissues fetal tissue, cord blood, and adult stem cells cells differentiated, but can form a number of other tissues multipotent some cells of blastocyst 5 to 14 days cells can form any over 200 cell types.
Faizan ahmed khan 2, mds 1 mds orthodontics, fellow cleft ort hodontics, pgdbeme, pgdce, ph. In nz we have already cloned a sheep, and in the u. It is now time to turn to general ethical problems associated with using human cells for tissue engineering. Key ethical issues in embryonic stem cell research.
The extent to which that is an advantage will depend on the extent to which that. Ethical issues at different phases of stem cell research. Hematopoietic stem cells from cord blood can be banked and are widely used for. Ethical issues in stem cell research oxford academic journals.
Human embryonic stem cell es research is a great project in the frontier of biomedical science for the twentyfirst century. Stem cell definition a cell that has the ability to continuously divide and differentiate develop into various other kinds of cellstissues fetal tissue, cord blood, and adult stem cells cells differentiated, but can form a number of other tissues multipotent some cells of blastocyst 5 to 14 days cells can form any over 200 cell types. Embryonic stem cells also have limited selfrenewals, measured at 2 years. Derivation of eggs or sperm from pluripotent stem cells or direct reprogramming from somatic cells would have huge effects on assisted reproductive technology.
And yet the use of these special cells is quite controversial. The derivation of pluripotent stem cell lines from oocytes and embryos is fraught with disputes regarding the onset of human personhood and human reproduction. Stemcell research and ethical dilemmas for policy makers. The use of adult stem cells of the body itself is, of course, the safest method compared to ips cells. Stem cell research and related initiatives in regenerative medicine, cellbased therapy, and tissue engineering have generated considerable scientific and public interest. The most logical way of defining ethical norms is to develop a distinction. Ethical issues in stem cell research pubmed central pmc. Chapter 1 covers the science of stem cells and includes several case. The development of human pluripotent stem cells has opened up the possibility to analyse the function of human cells and tissues in animal hosts, thus generating chimeras. Advances in stem cell research offer unprecedented insights into human biology and opportunities for clinical translation. There should be a sound scientific justification for using human oocytes and embryos to derive new human stem cell lines. Ethical and legal issues in therapeutic cloning and the study. The aim of this booklet is to provide a clear overview of the science of stem cells and of the legal and ethical aspects of the subject. Embryonic stem cells offer hope for new therapies, but their use in research has been hotly debated.
Here we discuss important ethical, legal, and social issues that would be raised by the development of such female or male gametes for clinical use. Ethical considerations in chimera research development. Different countries have chosen to regulate embryonic stem cell research in very different ways. And yet the use of these special cells is quite controversial because of where they come from. They also raise many questions with social and ethical implications. The issue of stem cell research and treatment, especially using embryonic stem ethical and social considerations of any new treatment that involves the use of. Mention embryonic stem cells in the pub and the topic still divides opinion. Adult stem cells and cord blood stem cells do not raise special ethical concerns and are widely used in research and clinical care. Ethical and moral issues in human pluripotent stem cell.
Be cause the research involves the use of human embryos, it triggers serious debate on ethical issues. Religion and the public ethics of stemcell research plos. We draw on a sample of the bioethics and scientific literatures to address issues that are specific to stem cell research and therapy. Ethics of stem cell research stanford encyclopedia of. On the other hand many supports of stem cell research argue that stem cells can help ensure that everyone is given the opportunity to reach their desired living age. Chapter 3 is an indepth exploration of the ethical issues, especially those concerning the early human embryo. Ethics and policy issues for stem cell research and. Stem cell regenerative therapy in veterinary medicine for cells originating from human embryos, there are many ethical and legal debates about usage of these cells. Stem cells can also be obtained from adult tissues, as they seem to have sufficient plasticity to use for the stated purpose. Key ethical issues in embryonic stem cell research parliament of. Stem cell research has been going on in china for a while,and i understand president obama has said the usa will adapt stem cell research. Stem cell research involves the exploration of the medical possibilities latent in primary, relatively undifferentiated cells. Pdf rapid progress in biotechnology has introduced a host of pressing ethical and policy issues pertaining to stem cell research.
Stem cells are undifferentiated biological cells that can differentiate into specialized cells and can divide through mitosis to produce more stem cells. Here we discuss important ethical, legal, and social issues that would be raised by the development of such female or. The advantages and disadvantages of stem cell research go beyond the ethics of this field. This is followed by a section on the legal aspects of stem cell research, both from a national and international perspective chapter 2. Although such lines of research have great potential for both basic and translational science, they also raise unique ethical issues that must be considered. Researchers are applying stem cell technologies to chest medicine in a variety of ways. Although ipscs may appear to solve the controversy over the destruction of embryos in embryonic stem cell esc research by involving only the genetic reprogramming of somatic cells, further analysis of the new technique and its subsequent ethical issues could potentially lessen some ethical advantages ipscs seemingly hold over escs. The harvesting and use of adult stem cells for biomedical purposes, however, avoids some of the ethically and biomedically problematic features of using embryonic stem cells. Human embryonic stem cell research has elicited powerful debates about the morality of destroying human embryos. Stem cells are present in each of the three germ layers. The possibility of human beings being cloned is a possibility.
Pdf ethical issues in the stem cells research an updated. Stem cells are undifferentiated or blank cells found in the human body that have the potential to develop into many different cell types that carry out different functions. Discover what the law says about stem cell research in the uk and other countries. However, clinical application of stem cells raises numerous ethical and safety concerns. Recently, vsels have also been reported in azoospermic testicular biopsies of survivors of childhood cancer 4 and ovaries of women with premature ovarian failure.
Sources of stem cells totipotent stem cells can be obtained from blastocysts or other forms of early embryos. Pdf ethical issues in stem cell research and therapy. Cell stem cell forum ethical and legal issues arising in research on inducing human germ cells from pluripotent stem cells tetsuya ishii,1, renee a. For years, ethical issues hampered progress in stem cell research.
Ethical and legal issues in therapeutic cloning and the. Use of very small embryoniclike stem cells to avoid legal. This limits the research potential of any existing line. Ethical issues in tissue engineering sciencedirect. But what exactly are the ethical arguments and why are they so tricky. Human embryonic stem cells offer the promise of a new regenerative medicine in which damaged adult cells can be replaced with new cells. Very small embryoniclike stem cells are the primordial germ cells that survive in adult gonads and express pluripotent markers including nuclear oct4a. Rapid progress in biotechnology has introduced a host of pressing ethical and policy issues pertaining to stem cell research. Ethical and social issues surrounding stem cell research ethics white papers produced by the canadian stem cell network. Several issues should be addressed now, even though phase i clinical trials. Ethical issues relating to the sources of human embryonic stem or embryonic. Ethical issues in human stem cell research 45 ethical issues relating to the sources of human embryonic stem or embryonic germ cells 45 the arguments relating to federal funding. Now, however, experts believe that new developments in reprogrammed cells will truly revolutionise the treatment of life. Ethical and moral issues in human pluripotent stem cell hpsc.
Apr, 2020 there are several ethical issues that are raised while working with stem cells. Research is needed to determine the most viable stem cell lines and reliable ways to promote the differentiation of pluripotent stem cells into specific cell types neurons, muscle cells, etc. Stem cell treatment ethical issues stem cell medical. Ethics seeks to determine what a person should do, or the best course of action, and provides reasons why. The recent development of induced pluripotent stem cells ipscs and related technologies has caught the attention of scientists, activists, politicians, and ethicists alike. Understanding stem cells developed and published by the national academy of sciences, this free booklet available as a 1. Several other methods of deriving stem cells raise fewer ethical concerns. Apr 14, 2009 adult stem cells and cord blood stem cells do not raise special ethical concerns and are widely used in research and clinical care.
In an attempt to minimize the ethical issues associated with human embryonic stem cell research so important research can proceed, professional groups have issued guidelines for the ethical. Ethics and induced pluripotent stem cells the embryo. Donors of cord blood are not merely depositing the leftover byproducts of the birth process with interested researchers and physicians. Project muse ethical guidelines for human embryonic stem. The ethical issues are why should people be allowed to have this. The spectrum of offspring from these stem cells is more restricted than that of cells derived from the icm, so they are described as multipotent rather than pluripotent. Executive summary was published in september 1999 by the us national bioethics advisory commission in response to a national debate about whether or not the us federal government should fund embryonic stem cell research. It is a great resource for anyone with a biological background seeking intelligent arguments in support of stem cell research. However, human stem cell hsc research also raises sharp ethical and political controversies. For a start, harvesting adult stem cells does not involve the destruction of embryos. Pdf ethical issues in stem cell research and therapy researchgate. We have examined the ethical issues raised by the potential of stem cells derived from donated embryos, embryos created specifically for research purposes. However, these cells cannot be expanded in vitro and have not been definitively shown to be pluripotent.
Moreover, because important biological differences exist between embryonic and adult stem cells, this source of stem cells should not be considered an alternative to es and eg cell research. Embryonic stem cell research and therapeutic cloning. The ethical and policy issues raised by stem cell research are not unique, but this research. Stem cell report archived websites at the bioethics research.
For example, the stem cells of the hematopoietic blood and lymph. Scientific progress in human embryonic stem cell hesc research and increased funding make it imperative to look ahead to the ethical issues generated by the expected use of hescs for transplantation. Ethical and legal issues arising in research on inducing. It also helps people decide how to behave and treat one another, and what kinds of communities. Ethical issues in stem cell research and therapy stem cell. Mar 12, 2011 for years, ethical issues hampered progress in stem cell research. Stem cell ethicsinternational stem cell registry at umass. Ethical and safety issues of stem cellbased therapy. However, there are important ethical issues related to stem cell research that. Adult stem cells are pluripotent, multipotent, and progenitor stem cells found among the differentiated cells of a particular tissue or organ in the human body. Some type of embryo stem cell research is permissible in virtually every state. Such cloned cells are then induced to divide and develop into embryos. How can the law help us explore the ethical and social issues. Ethical and religious issues 89 concerns about the safety of cloning, as fisc hbach and fischbach state, stem cells produced by therapeutic cloning have the advantage over those harvested from embryos resulting.