Ethics Behind Stem Cell Research

Paper Summary:

This paper reviews and discusses stem cell research. The paper provides a brief background of the history of stem cell research and goes on to discuss how oocytes, originally obtained specifically for human embryonic stem cell research and not for reproductive or medical purposes, create an object of ethics research. The paper reports that the National Research Council-Institute of Medicine in the United States has set guidelines that are exemplary.

From the Paper:

"Stem cell research dependant upon somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) presents risks for donors and so the women donor's welfare is a concern, but in actuality, the risks faced by these healthy women are equal to the risks other clinical research subjects face. If other research were to be scrutinized as much as these are and are to be found acceptable, then stem cell research donors should be able to fulfill the same scrutiny and find equal footing. The concerns of inducing service and recruiting where women are vulnerable, as well as reimbursing donors sufficiently should be considered, controlled, and informed consent be guaranteed. (Mertes 629)."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Ethics Committee of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. "Financial incentives in recruitment of oocyte donors." Fertil Steril 2004; 82:Suppl 1:S240-S244.
• Hwang, W.S., Roh, S.I., Lee, B.C., et al. " Patient-specific embryonic stem cells derived from human SNCT blastocysts". Science 2005;308.
• Magnus, David and Cho, Mildred K. "Issues in oocyte donation for stem cell research." Science Express Magazine, Stanford Center for Biomedical Ethics and Department of Pediatrics, Vol. 308. no. 5729, June 2005. <http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/308/5729/1747>.
• McDonald, Chris. "Stem cells: a pluripotent challenge." BioScan Vol. 13, Iss. 4, (Toronto Biotechnology Initiative.) Fall 2001.
• Mertes, H. and Pennings, G. "Oocyte donation for stem cell research." Human Reproduction 2007 <http://humrep.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/22/3/629>.

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