Scientists from the Eastern Virginia Medical School in the US have reported in Fertility and Sterility, the official journal of the American Society of Reproductive Medicine (ASRM), that they have been creating embryos from donated eggs and sperm for the sole purpose of obtaining stem cells. The research, which was privately funded, began in 1997 and ended last July.
Embryonic stem cells had previously only been derived from embryos 'left over' from fertility treatments. In this case, men and women were asked to donate sperm and eggs purely for stem cell research. 162 eggs were extracted from 12 women and fertilised with donor sperm from two men. Fifty developed into embryos, and stem cells were extracted from 40 of these. Three stem cell lines have been isolated and maintained in culture.
The donors were asked to sign detailed documents signalling their informed consent, and before the study was started the procedure was checked with ethicists, the church, and lawyers. Sean Tipton, a spokesman for the ASRM said that they were impressed with the high consideration paid to the ethics of the research. He said 'at one level, it's cleaner (ethically) than using leftover embryos, there's no question as to what you're going to do with these embryos. You're going to the individuals upfront.' But the scientists have been criticised by those who believe creating embryos for destructive research is wrong.
Meanwhile, it has been announced by US company Advanced Cell Technology Inc. that they are attempting to use cloned embryos to obtain stem cells, a technique currently under legal consideration by the Bush administration. Both announcements come as tension is already mounting in the US while scientists await President Bush's imminent decision on the highly contentious issue of whether to allow federal funding for stem cell research.
Sources and References
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Scientists create scores of embryos to harvest stem cells
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Row over made-to-order stem cells
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Embryos created for stem cell research
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Scientists use embryos made only for research
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