Human embryo research, stem cell-derived embryo models and in vitro gametogenesis: Considerations leading to the revised ISSCR guidelines

Human embryonic stem cell (hESC) and human embryo research.

Human embryonic stem cell research has emerged as an important platform for the understanding and treatment of pediatric diseases. From its inception, however, it has raised ethical concerns based not on the use of stem cells themselves but on objections to the source of the cells--specifically, the destruction of preimplantation human embryos. Despite differences in public opinion on this issu...

Legislative guidelines to govern in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer.

Setting Global Standards for Stem Cell Research and Clinical Translation: The 2016 ISSCR Guidelines

The International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) presents its 2016 Guidelines for Stem Cell Research and Clinical Translation (ISSCR, 2016). The 2016 guidelines reflect the revision and extension of two past sets of guidelines (ISSCR, 2006; ISSCR, 2008) to address new and emerging areas of stem cell discovery and application and evolving ethical, social, and policy challenges. These gui...

Morality and human embryo research

The readers of EMBO reports will be familiar with the broad outlines of the debate about whether it is morally acceptable to destroy human embryos for the purposes of medical research. The Talking Point articles published here exemplify the two sides of this debate: Robert George and Patrick Lee argue that such research is inherently wrong, whereas Thomas Douglas and Julian Savulescu contend th...

Human embryo research in France.

The French law on bioethics, voted upon in July 1994, is going to be revised. This is the occasion for France to reconsider its position concerning research on human embryos, which is currently prohibited in France, as it is in Germany, Switzerland and Austria. However, such research is authorised in other European countries such as the UK, Spain, Belgium, Italy and The Netherlands. The establi...