Apr 14, · Embryonic Stem Cell Research Pluripotent stem cell lines can be derived from the inner cell mass of the 5- to 7-d-old blastocyst. However, human embryonic stem cell (hESC) research is ethically and politically controversial because it involves the destruction of human blogger.com by: The claim an embryo outside of the uterus is a human is up for serious debate between those for and against stem cell research. Our beliefs may be deeply rooted in religion and our religion determines how we view stem cell research. Some may compare destroying an embryo to There are two basic types of stem cell research—that involving adult cells (AS cells) and that involving human embryonic cells (ESCs or hES cells); only the latter is a source of controversy
Ethical Issues in Stem Cell Research
However, human stem cell hSC research also raises sharp ethical and political controversies. The derivation of pluripotent stem cell lines from oocytes and embryos is fraught with disputes about the onset of human personhood, stem cell research controversy essay. The reprogramming of somatic cells to produce induced pluripotent stem cells avoids the ethical problems specific to embryonic stem cell research.
In any hSC research, however, difficult dilemmas arise regarding sensitive downstream research, consent to donate materials for hSC research, early clinical trials of hSC therapies, and oversight of hSC research.
These ethical and policy issues need to be discussed along with scientific challenges to ensure that stem cell research is carried out in an ethically appropriate manner. This article provides a critical analysis of these issues and how they are addressed in current policies.
Pluripotent stem cells perpetuate themselves in culture and can differentiate into all types of specialized cells. Scientists plan to differentiate pluripotent cells into specialized cells that could be used for transplantation. The derivation of pluripotent stem cell lines from oocytes and embryos is fraught with disputes regarding the onset of human personhood and human reproduction. Several other methods of deriving stem cells raise fewer ethical concerns. The reprogramming of somatic cells to produce induced pluripotent stem cells iPS cells avoids the ethical problems specific to embryonic stem cells.
With any hSC research, however, there are difficult dilemmas, including consent to donate materials for hSC research, early clinical trials stem cell research controversy essay hSC therapies, and oversight of hSC research 2. Adult stem cells and cord blood stem cells do not raise special ethical concerns and are widely used in research and clinical care.
However, these cells cannot be expanded in vitro and have not been definitively shown to be pluripotent. Hematopoietic stem cells from cord blood can be banked and are widely used for allogenic and autologous stem cell transplantation in pediatric hematological diseases as an alternative to bone marrow transplantation. Adult stem cells occur in many tissues and can differentiate into specialized cells in their tissue of origin and also transdifferentiate into specialized cells characteristic of other tissues, stem cell research controversy essay.
For example, hematopoietic stem cells can differentiate into all three blood cell types as well as into neural stem cells, cardiomyocytes, and liver cells. Adult stem cells can be isolated through plasmapheresis. They are already used to treat hematological malignancies and to modify the side effects of cancer chemotherapy. Furthermore, autologous stem cells are being used in clinical trials in patients who have suffered myocardial infarction.
Their use in several other conditions has not been validated or is experimental, despite some claims to the contrary 3. Pluripotent stem cell lines can be derived from the inner cell mass of the 5- to 7-d-old blastocyst. However, stem cell research controversy essay, human embryonic stem cell hESC research is ethically and politically controversial because it involves the destruction of human embryos.
In the United States, the question of when human life begins has been highly controversial and closely linked to debates over abortion. Some people, however, believe that an embryo is a person with the same moral status as an adult or a live-born child. According to this view, an embryo has interests and rights that must be respected.
From this perspective, taking a blastocyst and removing the inner cell mass to derive an embryonic stem cell line is tantamount to murder 4. Many other people have a different view of the moral status of the embryo, for example that the embryo becomes a person in a moral sense at a later stage of development than fertilization. Few people, however, believe that the embryo or blastocyst is just a clump of cells that can be used for research without restriction.
Many hold a middle ground that the early embryo deserves special respect as a potential human being but that it is acceptable to use it for certain types of research provided there is good scientific justification, careful oversight, and informed consent from the woman or couple for donating the embryo for research 5. However, stem cell research controversy essay, such opposition to stem cell research is not monolithic.
A number of pro-life leaders support stem cell research using frozen embryos that remain after a woman or couple has completed infertility treatment and that they have decided not to give to another couple. This view is held, for example, by former First Lady Nancy Reagan and by U. Senator Orrin Hatch.
On his Senate website, Sen. To me, the morality of the situation dictates that these embryos, stem cell research controversy essay, which are routinely discarded, be used to improve and save lives. InPresident Bush, stem cell research controversy essay, who holds strong pro-life views, allowed federal National Institutes of Health NIH funding for stem cell research using embryonic stem cell lines already in existence at the time, while prohibiting NIH funding for the derivation or use of additional embryonic stem cell lines, stem cell research controversy essay.
This policy was a response to a growing sense that hESC research held great promise for understanding and treating degenerative diseases, while still opposing further destruction of human embryos. NIH funding was viewed by many researchers as essential for attracting scientists to stem cell research controversy essay a long-term commitment to study the basic biology of stem cells; without a strong basic science platform, therapeutic breakthroughs would be less likely.
Allowing research to be carried out on the stem cell lines might allow some good to come out of their destruction. However, using only existing embryonic stem cell lines is scientifically problematic. Originally, the NIH announced that over 60 hESC lines would be acceptable for NIH funding. However, the majority of these lines were not suitable for research; for example, they were not truly pluripotent, had become contaminated, or were not available for shipping, stem cell research controversy essay.
As of January22 hESC lines are eligible for NIH funding. However, these lines may not be safe for transplantation into humans, and long-standing lines have been shown to accumulate mutations, including several known to predispose to cancer. In addition, concerns have been raised about the consent process for the derivation of some of these NIH-approved lines 7, stem cell research controversy essay. The vast majority of scientific experts, including the Director of the NIH under President Bush, believe that a lack of access to new embryonic stem cell lines hinders progress toward stem cell-based transplantation 8.
For example, lines from a wider range of donors would allow more patients to receive human leukocyte agent matched stem cell transplants 9. Currently, federal funds may not be used to derive new embryonic stem cell lines or to work with hESC lines not on the approved NIH list. NIH-funded equipment and laboratory space may not be used for research on nonapproved hESC lines.
Both the derivation of new hESC lines and research with hESC lines not approved by NIH may be carried out under nonfederal funding.
Because of these restrictions on NIH funding, a number of states have established programs to fund stem cell research, stem cell research controversy essay, including the derivation of new embryonic stem cell lines, stem cell research controversy essay. Under President Obama, it is expected that federal funding will be made available to carry out research with hESC lines not on the NIH list and to derive new hESC lines from frozen embryos donated for research after a woman or couple using in vitro fertilization IVF has determined they are no longer needed for reproductive purposes.
However, federal funding may not be permitted for creation of embryos expressly for research or for derivation of stem cell lines using somatic cell nuclear transfer SCNT 10 Women and couples who undergo infertility treatment often have frozen embryos remaining after they complete their infertility treatment. The disposition of these frozen embryos is often a difficult decision for them to make Some choose to donate these remaining embryos to research rather than giving them to another couple for reproductive purposes or destroying them.
Several ethical concerns come into play when a frozen embryo is donated, including informed consent from the woman or couple donating the embryo, consent from gamete stem cell research controversy essay involved in the creation of the embryo, and the confidentiality of donor information. Since the Nuremburg Code, informed consent has been regarded as a basic requirement for research with human subjects.
Consent is particularly important in research with human embryos Members of the public and potential donors of embryos for research hold strong and diverse opinions on the matter. Some consider all embryo research to be unacceptable; others only support some forms of research.
For instance, a person might consider infertility research acceptable but object to research to derive stem cell lines or research that might lead to patents or commercial products Obtaining informed consent for potential future uses of the donated embryo respects this diversity of views. Additionally, people commonly place special emotional and moral significance on their reproductive materials, compared with other tissues In the United States, federal regulations on research permit a waiver of informed consent for the research use of deidentified biological materials that cannot be linked to donors Thus, logistically it would be possible to carry out embryo and stem cell research on deidentified materials without consent.
For example, during IVF procedures, oocytes that fail to fertilize or embryos that fail to develop sufficiently to be implanted are ordinarily discarded.
These materials could be deidentified and then used by researchers. Furthermore, if infertility patients have frozen embryos remaining after they complete treatment, they are routinely contacted by the IVF program to decide whether they want to continue to store the embryos and to pay freezer storage feesto donate them to another infertile woman or couple, or to discard them.
If a patient chooses to discard the embryos, stem cell research controversy essay, it would be possible to instead remove identifiers and use them for research. Still another possibility involves frozen embryos from patients who do not respond to requests to make a decision regarding the disposition of frozen embryos.
Some IVF practices have a policy to discard such embryos and inform patients of this policy when they give consent for the IVF procedures. Again, rather than stem cell research controversy essay such frozen embryos, it is logistically feasible to deidentify them and give them to researchers.
However, the ethical justifications for allowing deidentified biological materials to be used for research without consent do not always hold for embryo research For example, stem cell research controversy essay, one rationale for allowing the use of deidentified materials is that the ethical risks are very low; there can be no breach of confidentiality, which is the main concern in this type of research.
A second rationale is that people would not object to having their materials used in such a manner if they were asked. However, this assumption does not necessarily hold in the context of embryo research.
Such donors might be offended or feel wronged if their frozen embryos were used for research that they did not consent to. Deidentifying the materials would not address their concerns. Frozen embryos may be created with sperm or oocytes from donors who do not participate any further in assisted reproduction or childrearing. Some people argue that consent from gamete stem cell research controversy essay is not required for embryo research because they have ceded their right to direct further usage of their gametes to the artificial reproductive technology ART patients.
However, gamete donors who are willing to help women and couples bear children stem cell research controversy essay object to the use of their genetic materials for research. This percentage is not unexpected stem cell research controversy essay reproductive materials have special significance, and many people in the United States oppose embryo research.
Little is known about the wishes of sperm donors concerning research. There are substantial practical differences between obtaining consent for embryo research from oocyte donors and from sperm donors. ART clinics can readily discuss donation for research with oocyte donors during visits for oocyte stimulation and retrieval.
However, most ART clinics obtain donor sperm from sperm banks and generally have no direct contact with the donors. Furthermore, sperm is often donated anonymously to sperm banks, with strict confidentiality provisions. As a matter of respect for gamete stem cell research controversy essay, their wishes regarding stem cell derivation should be determined and respected stem cell research controversy essay Gamete donors who are willing to help women and couples bear children may object to the use of their genetic materials for research.
Specific consent for stem cell research from both embryo and gamete donors was recommended by the National Academy of Sciences Guidelines for Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research and has been adopted by the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine CIRMthe state agency funding stem cell research 18 This consent requirement need not imply that embryos are people or that gametes or embryos are research subjects. Confidentiality must be carefully protected in embryo and hESC research because breaches of confidentiality might subject donors to unwanted publicity or even harassment by opponents of hESC research Although identifying information about donors must be retained in case of audits by the Food and Drug Administration as part of the approval process for new therapies, concerns about confidentiality may deter some donors from agreeing to be recontacted.
Recently, confidentiality of personal health care information has been violated through deliberate breaches by staff, through break-ins by computer hackers, and through loss or theft of laptop computers. Files containing the identities of persons whose gametes or embryos were used to derive hESC lines should be protected through heightened security measures Entry to the computer storage room should also be restricted by means of a card-key, or equivalent system, that records each entry.
Audit trails of access to the information should be routinely monitored for inappropriate access.
The Ethical Questions of Stem Cell Research
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The Heated Debate Concerning Stem Cell Research Essay Words | 5 Pages States, research has become a viable tool for sustaining and prolonging human life. As research evolves, it brings along with it much controversy, especially where stem cell research is involved Stem cell research has provided hope and has brought optimism among the scientists and doctors in curing the patients who suffered or died due to the once called "untreatable" diseases decades ago. Stem cells are the ones which can develop into any type of a body cell including the cells of blood, liver, brain, muscles, and many more.5/5(2) Apr 14, · Embryonic Stem Cell Research Pluripotent stem cell lines can be derived from the inner cell mass of the 5- to 7-d-old blastocyst. However, human embryonic stem cell (hESC) research is ethically and politically controversial because it involves the destruction of human blogger.com by:
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