3. The Moral Dilemma of Stem Cell Science and Medicine

Sagan and Singer (2007).

Thomas Douglas and Julian Savulescu, ‘Destroying unwanted embryos in research’ (2009) 10 EMBO Reports 307.

The United Nations report (2007).

The National Institutes of Health, http://​www.​nih.​gov/​about/​ accessed October 28 2015.

See HESC Policy Under Former President Bush, the National Institutes of Health http://​stemcells.​nih.​gov/​policy/​2001policy.​htm accessed October 28 2015.

See http://​stemcells.​nih.​gov/​policy/​Pages/​2009Guideline.​aspx accessed October 28 2015.

See National Institutes of Health Guideline on human stem cell research, the National Institutes of Health http://​stemcells.​nih.​gov/​policy/​2009Guideline.​htm accessed October 28 2015.

ibid.

Michelle N Meyer and Fossett A James, ‘The More Things Change: The New NIH Guideline on Human Stem Cell Research’ (2009) 19 Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal 289–307 (pointing out that with respect to the goal of ameliorating the patchwork of standards governing US stem cell research, although the Guideline centralize crucial aspects of federal policy, and may exert influence even over non-NIH-supported researchers and other research funders and regulators, they almost certainly will not substantially reduce the multiple standards for conducting HESC research that exist in the United State, much less in the world).

Commission staff working paper in support of the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council and the Economic and Social Committee on Second Progress Report and Future Orientation of Life science and Biotechnology-life sciences and biotechnology—a strategy for Europe http://​ec.​Europa.​Europe/​research/​index.​cfm?​pg=​whatsnew&​StartMonth=​January&​EndMonth=​December&​CurrentYear=​2003 accessed November 21 2015.

See European Commission proposes strict ethical Guideline on EUROPE funding of HESC research, Brussels, 9 July 2003 http://​Europa.​Europe/​rapid/​pressReleasesAct​ion.​do?​reference=​IP/​03/​969&​format=​HTML&​aged=​0&​language=​EN&​guiLanguage=​en accessed October 28 2015.

The article 5 of Ethical Guiding Principle on HESC, People’s Republic of China, http://​www.​Chinalawedu.​com/​falvfagui/​fg22598/​23975.​shtml accessed October 23 2015.

The article 6 of Ethical Guiding Principle on HESC, People’s Republic of China, see ibid.

Wang (2003).

Plomer Aura and Torremans Paul, Embryonic Stem Cell Patents-European law and Ethics, (Oxford: Oxford University express 2009).

ibid.

The Article 1 of The United Nation’s Universal Declaration of Human rights.

UNESCO, ‘Universal Declaration on Bioethics and Human rights’, http://​portal.​unesco.​org.

ibid.

Lugosi (2007).

Cole Turner Ronald, ‘Cloning humans from the perspective of the Christian churches’ (1999) 5 Science Engineering Ethics 33–46 (pointing out that human embryo research through the fourteenth day of development is in a concern for social justice); see also Walters Leroy, ‘HESC research: an intercultural perspective’ (2004) 14 Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal 3–38 (asserting that the living human embryo is from the moment of the union of the gametes-a human subject with a well defined identity, which from that points begins its own coordinated, continuous and gradual development, such that at no later stage can it be considered as a simple mass of cells).

Annas George, ‘the politics of human embryo research-avoiding ethical gridlock’ (1996) 334 New England Journal of Medicine 1329.

Knowles P Lori, ‘the use of human embryos in stem cell research’ (2009) 6 stem cell network 151–161.

Mcleod carolyn and Baylis Francoise, ‘Feminists on the inalienability of human embryos’ (2006) 21 Hypatia 1–14.

Alastair V Campbell, ethical issues in therapeutic cloning, round table ethical aspects of human stem cells research and uses, Brussels, 2000 http://​Europa.​Europe.​int/​comm.​/​European_​group_​ethics/​doc/​dp15rev.​pdf accessed October 20 2015.

Fiona Macrae, ‘ethical storm flares as British scientists create artificial sperm from human stem cells’ The Mailonline (london, 8 July 2009) http://​www.​dailymail.​co.​uk/​health/​article-1198132/​Ethical-storm-flares-british-scientists-create-aritificial-sperm-human-stem-cell accessed October 28 2012.

Knoepffler Nikolaus, ‘stem cell research: an ethical evaluation of policy options’ (2004) 14 Kennedy institute ethics 55–74.

Kristina hug, ‘Sources of human embryos for stem cell research: ethical problems and their possible soltuons’ (2005) 41 Medicina Kaunas 12–43.

ISSCR sample for embryo donation, http://​www.​isscr.​org/​Guideline/​cfembryos.​doc accessed October 28 2015.

Nelson Erin, Ubaka Ogbogu and Timothy Caulfield, ‘An investigation of embryo donation, informed consent, and research oversight in Canadian HESC research’ (2007) 29 health policy 997–1002.

Aera (2007).

Lacey (2006).

Russell B Korobkin, ‘buying and selling human tissues for stem cell research’ (2006) 49 Arizona Law Review 45–67.

ibid.

Harrison H Charlotte, ‘Neither moore nor the market: alternative models for compensating contributors of human tissue’ (2002) 28 American Journal of Law & Medicine 77–105.

Gitter M Donna, ‘Ownership of human tissue: a proposal for federal recognition of human research participants property rights in their biological material’ (2004) 61 Washington & lee law Review 257–345.

Steinbock Bonnie, ‘payment for egg donation and surrogacy’ (2004) 71 Mt Sinai Journal Medicine 255–256.

The International Society for Stem Cell Research Guideline.

Crespi (2006).

Dolgin and Shepherd (2009).

ibid.

Ronald Baliey, ‘Are Stem Cells Babies? Only if every other human cell is, too’ reason.com, July 11, 2001) http://​reason.​com/​archives/​2001/​07/​11/​are-stem-cells-babies accessed April 6 2015.

Through somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), somatic cell could be developed to human being. First, an adult cell rather than a sperm or egg cell is distracted. Its DNA is retained and the other is discard whereas the nucleus of an egg cell is removed. Then the DNA of somatic cell is insert into the enucleated egg cell. By electrical stimulation, the reprogrammed cell could be possibly divided and developed into human being.

George and Lee (2009).

The cytoplasm is ‘all of the contents outside of the nucleus and enclosed within the cell membrane of a cell. This includes the cytosol and in Eukaryotic cells, organelles such as mitochondria and ribosomes. Also located within the cytoplasm is the cytoskeleton, a network of fibers that helop the cell maintain its shape and give it support’, http://​biology.​about.​com/​od/​biologydictionar​y/​g/​cytoplasm.​htm accessed April 29 2015.

Sagan and Singer (2007).

ibid.

In biology, epigentics means ‘the study of heritable changes in gene expression or cellular phenotype caused by mechanisms other than changes in the underlying DNA sequence, it refers to functionally relevant modifications to the genome that do not involve a change in the nucleotide sequence’, http://​en.​wikipedia.​org/​wiki/​Epigenetics accessed April 5 2015.

ibid.

ibid.

ibid.

ibid.

ibid.

The theory of Evolution was first formulated by Charles Darwin as the base of biology. Evolution is ‘any change across successive generations in the heritable characteristics of biological populations. Evolutionary processes give rise to diversity at every level of biological organisation, including species, individual organisms and molecules such as DNA and protein. http://​en.​wikipedia.​org/​wiki/​Evolution accessed April 29 2015.

Biological classification, also called scientific classification in biology, means ‘a method to group and categorize organisms into groups such as genus or species’, http://​en.​wikipedia.​org/​wiki/​Biological_​classification accessed April 29 2015.

A zygote means ‘the initial cell formed when two gamete cells are joined by means of sexual reproduction. In multicellular organisms, it is the earliest developmental stage of the embryo. In single-celled organisms, the zygote divides to produce offspring, usually through meiosis’, http://​en.​wikipedia.​org/​wiki/​Zygote accessed May 1 2015.

For example, Sadler T.W. said ‘the development of a human being begins with fertilisation’; Moore, Keith L said ‘this fertilised ovum, known as a zygote, is a large diploid cell that is the beginning, or primordium, of a human being’; Carlson, Bruce M said ‘human pregnancy begins with the fusion of an egg and a sperm’, see Kischer (1996).

ibid.

Kevin D.O’Rourke, ‘is the human embryo a person?’ 3 (2006) Newsletter of the Neiswanger institute for bioethics and public policy http://​www.​domcentral.​org/​study/​kor/​Embryo%20​as%20​Person.​pdf accessed May 3 2015.

Cassidy (1995).

Charles L. Lugosi, ‘conforming to the rule of law: when person and human being finally mean the same thing in fourteenth amendment Jurisprudence’ (2006) 22 issues in law & medicine 119.

The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith consist of ‘Catholic Church’s document dealing with doctrinal and theological issues related to church teaching. It also contains information on political trials that were carried out when the papacy had temporal power over the papal states’, http://​en.​wikipedia.​org/​wiki/​Archive_​of_​the_​Congregation_​for_​the_​Doctrine_​of_​the_​Faith accessed May 6 2015.

ibid.

See the Article 5 of Dignitas Personae. Dignitas Personae is ‘the title of a 2008 instruction by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith giving doctrinal directives on certain embryonic ethical controversies that had emerged since 1987, after Donum Viate was released’, http://​en.​wikipedia.​org/​wiki/​Dignitas_​Personae accessed May 9 2015.

For example, some British and US bioethics scholars, such as Michael Tooley and H. Tristram Engelhardt, see also Kevin D.O’Rourke, ‘The embryo as person’ (2005) life and learning 281–296.

This theory has several artificial boundaries between human being and human person, including the following: (1) moment of conception (assignment of genetic identity), (2) beginning of the primitive streak (after which time twinning is no longer possible), (3) implantation of the embryo in the womb, (4) formation of the nervous system and sentience (the ability to feel pain), (5) formation of the cerebral cortex of the brain (the ability to reason is a concern, as well as the logic of paralleling brain life with brain death), (6) quickening (when the mother can feel the baby move), (7) when the foetus looks like what people expect a human being to look like (morphological similarity), (8) foetal viability (when a pre-mature baby can survive outside the womb with medical assistance and the help of others, (9) Birth (the moment of fully emerging from the mother’s body-as distinguished from partial birth), (10) acquisition of self-consciousness, (11) acquisition of ability to reason, (12) demonstration of intelligence (a minimum I.Q.), (13) self-determination (assertion of will), (14) socialization (the formation of conscious relationships to other people); see Charles L. Lugosi, ‘conforming to the rule of law: when person and human being finally mean the same thing in fourteenth amendment Jurisprudence’ (2006) 22 issues in law & medicine 119; also see Etsuko Akiba, ‘the dignity of the human embryo from the moment of fertilisation’ (2006) personality bioethics 81–109.

In the UK, research could be licensed on embryos up to 14 days.

The consciousness comes from the neuron that is developed in the stage of primitive streak, which occurs after 14 days.

There are two main views: one is the formation of primitive streak, which happens 14 days after fertilisation; and the other is that the chromosomes of the mother and father merge, which happens at the two-cell stage 30 h after fertilisation.

Such as O’Rahily, Karen Dawson and Moore. See Irving (1999).

ibid.

The Universal Declaration of Human rights believed human dignity is the foundation of international law. It states that ‘the inalienable right to life of every human individual from the first moment of conception is a constitutive element of civil society and its legislation. When the State does not place its power at the service of the rights of all and in particular of the more vulnerable, including unborn children, the very foundations of a State based on law are undermined’; also see supra note 82.

St Gregory of Nyssa said ‘for just as it would not be possible to style the unformed embryo a human being, but only a potential one-assuming that it is completed so as to come forth to human birth, while so long as it is in this unformed state it is something other than a human being-so our reason cannot recognise as a Christian one who has failed to receive, with regard to the entire mystery, the genuine form of our religion’, St Gregory of Nyssa (1893); Also St Augustine of Hippo said ‘if what is brought forth is unformed but at this stage some sort of living, shapeless thing, then the law of homicide would not apply, for it could not be said that there was a living soul in that body, for it lacks all sense, if it be such as is not yet formed and therefore not yet endowed with its senses’, http://​www.​publications.​parliament.​uk/​pa/​cm200405/​cmselect/​cmsctech/​7/​705.​htm accessed September 12 2015.

Karen Dawson found in embryo experimentation ‘Conjoined twins arise from the twinning process occurring after the primitive streak has begun to form, that is, beyond 14 days after fertilisation’, see Dianne Irving, ‘when do human being begin? Scientific myths and scientific facts’ (1999) 19 International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy 22–36.

The Article 2 of the European Human rights Convention states that ‘1. Everyone’s right to life shall be protected by law. No one shall be deprived of his life intentionally save in the execution of a sentence of a court following his conviction of a crime for which this penalty is provided by law; 2. Deprivation of life shall not be regarded as inflicted in contravention of the Article when it results from the use of force which is no more than absolutely necessary: (a) in defence of any person from unlawful violence; (b) in order to effect a lawful arrest or to prevent the escape of a person lawfully detained (c) in action lawfully taken for the purpose of quelling a riot or insurrection’. Dawson (1990).

Case Vo v France (2005) EHRR 12 at Para. 82.

The Protection of the human embryo in Vitro, reports by steering committee on bioethics, 2003 http://​www.​coe.​int/​t/​dg3/​healthbioethic/​activities/​04_​human_​embryo_​and_​foetus_​en/​CDBI-CO-GT3(2003)13E.​pdf accessed July 21 2015.

ibid.

ibid.

ibid.

ibid.

ibid.

ibid.

Marquis (1989).

ibid.

Toby Ord, ‘the scourge: moral implications of natural embryo loss’ (2008) 8 American Journal bioethics 12.

ibid.

ibid.

Child survival lottery means ‘children who are not wanted by their parents are selected at random for medical research projects comparable to current embryo research’, see Baldwin (2009).

In the US, UK, German, Japan and so on, exist stem cell line is regulated as a permissible source of HESC research. The relevant regulations will examine in the following chapters.

Charo (2005).

IVF is in vitro fertilisation that can help the couples to get the baby. In order to increase the chance of successful embryo, the clinic usually produces more embryos than it needs. Some inferior embryos or unsuccessful embryos are unwanted and destroyed.

Katrien Devolder, ‘creating and sacrificing embryos for stem cells’ (2005) 31 Journal Medicine Ethics 366–370.

The principles of beneficence and non-maleficence mean that ‘it is right to benefit people if we can and wrong to harm them’, see Devolder (2005).

The principle of proportionality means ‘human embryos can only be used for research if this serves an important purpose, such as a major health interest’. See ibid.

The principle of subsidiarity means ‘the derivation of ESCs from spare embryos is only ethically justified if there is no suitable and less controversial alternative means of achieving the purpose of the research’. See ibid.

The principle of the avoidance of waste means ‘if these frozen spare embryos are going to be destroyed anyway, shouldn’t they be used for a greater good, for research that has the potential to save and improve other lives?’ See ibid.

Svendsen and Koch (2008).

ibid.

ibid.

ibid.

Xeno transplantation, human embryonic germ cells and adult stem cells are three alternatives of HESC in research. See ibid.

See http://​en.​wikipedia.​org/​wiki/​In_​vitro_​fertilisation accessed October 14 2013.

For examples of adult neural stem cells, see Galli et al. (2000).

Wert and Mummery (2003).

Lyerly and Faden (2007).

Neal and Grady (1999).

Rao (2006).

See National Research Council & Institute of Medicine, Guideline for HESC research (2010) http://​www.​nationalacademie​s.​org/​morenews/​20100526.​html accessed June 5 2015.

Ballantyne and Lacey (2008).

See the Ethics Committee of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, Financial composition of oocyte donors (2007) http://​www.​asrm.​org/​uploadedFiles/​ASRM_​Content/​News_​and_​Publications/​Ethics_​Committee_​Reports_​and_​Statements/​financial_​incentives.​pdf accessed June 6 2015.

Ethical issues in human stem cell research, the report of US National Bioethics Advisory Commission, 1999, http://​stemcells.​nih.​gov/​info/​pages/​ethics.​aspx accessed July 20 2015.

Dickson (2000).

ibid.

Developments in human genetics and embryology, the report of House of Commons Science and Technology Committee, 2002, http://​www.​parliament.​the-stationery-office.​co.​uk/​pa/​cm200102/​cmselect/​cmsctech/​791/​791.​pdf accessed July 20 2015.

Rao (2006).

Devolder (2005).

ibid.

Devolder (2005).

Kukla (2002).

ibid.

ibid.

Internal factor means embryo itself, for example its genetic constitution, its developmental potential. See ibid.

External factor is in the genesis of the embryo, for example the application of SCNT, implanted to the womb or discarded, see ibid.

ibid.

Cloning refers to making an exact copy. Cloning technology is already accomplished in some animals, for example, Dolly the sheep.

Is human reproductive cloning inevitable: future options for UN governance, the United Nations report, 2007 http://​unu.​edu/​publications/​policy-briefs/​is-human-reproductive-cloning-inevitable-future-options-for-un-governance.​html accessed July 22 2015.

ibid.

Yehudah et al. (2004).

Hipp and Atala (2004).

Ronald S Goldstein, ‘Transplantation of human embryonic stem cells to the chick embryo’ (2006) 331 Methods Molecular Biology 137–151.

Whittaker (2005).

Hwang et al. (2004).

Steinbrook (2006).

ibid.

Evers (2002).

See a discussion document of the bioethics work group of the church and society commission in a society, religion and technology project, http://​www.​wcc-coe.​org/​wcc/​what/​jpc/​biodocs.​html accessed July 22 2014.

Opinion on the preliminary draft revision of the laws on bioethics, No 67, 2001.

ibid.

ibid.

United Nations Declaration on Human Cloning (A/RES/59/280) 2005, http://​legal.​un.​org/​cloning/​index.​html accessed July 22 2015.

Section D of the Declaration. See ibid.

ibid.

Capron (2002).

ibid.

Such as Antinori, Harris and Grayling, http://​www.​hiddenancestors.​com/​Texas/​marriage/​Marriage_​2003.​txt accessed July 22 2015.

Bowring (2004).

ibid.

Anthony C Grayling, ‘we should not let baby eve tempt us away from progress’ the independent (London, 29 December 2002) http://​www.​independent.​co.​uk/​voices/​commentators/​a-c-grayling-we-should-not-let-baby-eve-tempt-us-away-from-progress-137578.​html accessed July 22 2015.

According to a survey of the literature conducted by sloter in 2000, the portion of cloned animals reaching adulthood in manipulated eggs is nearly 0.3 % for cows and less than 1 % for sheep. See Solter (2000).

ibid.

James Gallagher, ‘Gurdon and Yamanaka share Nobel prize for stem cell work’ The BBC (London, 8 October 2012) http://​www.​bbc.​co.​uk/​news/​health-19869673 accessed October 28 2015.

ibid.

Dr David Prentice, a professor of life sciences at Indiana State University, said ‘those adult stem cells, this alternative, are actually much more effective at reaching these goals of therapeutic treatment’. See Elizabeth Cohen, ‘adult stem cell or embryonic? Scientist differ’ The CNN (Washington, 09 August 2001) http://​articles.​cnn.​com/​2001-08-09/​health/​stem.​cell.​alternative_​1_​cell-research-professor-of-life-sciences-embryos?​_​s=​PM:​HEALTH accessed October 28 2015.

Amy J Wagers and Irving L Weissman, ‘Plasticity of adult stem cells’ (2004) 116 Cell 639–648.

Lauren Pecorino, ‘Stem cells for cell-based therapies’ (2001) American Institute of Biological Sciences http://​www.​actionbioscience​.​org/​biotech/​pecorino2.​html accessed October 28 2015.

Malcolm Ritter, ‘adult stem cell research far ahead of embryonic’ The USA Today (New York, 8 April 2012) http://​usatoday30.​usatoday.​com/​news/​health/​2010-08-02-stem-cells_​N.​htm accessed October 28 2015.

ibid.

Elizabeth Cohen, ‘adult stem cell or embryonic? Scientist differ’ The CNN (Washington, 09 August 2001) http://​articles.​cnn.​com/​2001-08-09/​health/​stem.​cell.​alternative_​1_​cell-research-professor-of-life-sciences-embryos?​_​s=​PM:​HEALTH accessed October 28 2015.

See NIH fact sheet on human pluripotent stem cell research Guideline, http://​stemcells.​nih.​gov/​news/​newsarchives/​stemfactsheet.​asp accessed October 28 2015.

ibid.