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...

Within the context of the EU Design Study Developmental Gene Expression Map, we identify a set of challenges when facilitating collaborative research on early human embryo development. These challenges bring forth requirements, for which we have identified solutions and technology. We summarise our solutions and demonstrate how they integrate to form an einfrastructure to support collaborative ...

This overview of 10 years of stem cell controversy reviews the moral conflict that has made ESCs so controversial and how this conflict plays itself out in the legal realm, focusing on the constitutional status of efforts to ban ESC research or ESC-derived therapies. It provides a history of the federal funding debate from the Carter to the Obama administrations, and the importance of the Raab ...

One of the fields of medicine that has raised the most expectations in recent years is cell therapy with stem cells. The isolation of human embryo cells, the apparent and unexpected potentiality of adult stem cells and the development of gene therapy lead us to imagine a hopeful future for a significant number of diseases that are at present incurable. In this article we will sketch out the pan...

In this paper the permissibility of stem cell research on early human embryos is defended. It is argued that, in order to have moral status, an individual must have an interest in its own wellbeing. Sentience is a prerequisite for having an interest in avoiding pain, and personhood is a prerequisite for having an interest in the continuation of one's own existence. Early human embryos are not s...

This iBrief discusses some of the social, ethical and legal considerations surrounding the use of unimplanted, in vitro embryos in stem cell research. It proposes that a new ethical standard be elucidated for these embryos. The iBrief gives an overview of two proposals for such a standard at opposite ends of the spectrum: treating the in vitro embryo as a legal person versus treating it as mere...

OBJECTIVE A mixed methods study exploring the UK general public's willingness to donate human biosamples (HBSs) for biomedical research. SETTING Cross-sectional focus groups followed by an online survey. PARTICIPANTS Twelve focus groups (81 participants) selectively sampled to reflect a range of demographic groups; 1110 survey responders recruited through a stratified sampling method with q...

study cultured stem cells from human embryos can proceed without violating the federal ban on embryo research in general. Since that decision, a great deal of excitement has arisen over the possibility that treatment of neurological disease may take a giant leap forward in the near future. The secrets to everything from preventing Alzheimer's Disease to reversing spinal cord damage may soon be ...

A baby girl born in 1978 forced the UK government to create ground-breaking legislation on human embryos. The birth of IVF baby Louise Brown and the subsequent rapid spread of the new method led to calls for regulation and boundaries for the IVF technology and for the science around human embryos in general. The government responded to these concerns with the 1990 Human Fertilisation and Embryo...