Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
scientific community which is one of the main interested parties. The main
reasons for this impact are the early introduction of legislation by the UK
government and the establishment of a national stem cell bank, providing
both a legal and a practical framework for the development of research which
is attractive to many scientists (Healy
et al
., 2005).
another issue arises in es research. Where do these embryos come from?
It is probable that existing ES cell lines will not be sufficient to allow for
equitable access (Faden
et al
., 2003) or that supernumerary oocytes are
not the best choice from a qualitative point of view. should we allow the
deliberate creation of embryos for tissue engineering or should we only
be allowed to use supernumerary embryos that were created during an
in
vitro
fertilisation procedure (iVF) and later donated for research purposes?
To some, the premeditated creation of an embryo with the explicit aim to
destroy it subsequently is unpalatable. Using an embryo for es derivation
that has become supernumerary after successful iVF treatment and that will
sooner or later be destroyed anyway, is acceptable to some who take the
viewpoint that under these circumstances 'nothing goes to waste' (outka,
2002). However this argument is not valid when one creates an embryo in
the full awareness of its imminent destruction, because it instrumentalises
the embryo and reduces it to a mere means and does not regard it as an end
in itself when bringing it into existence.
creating embryos also requires the willingness of women to donate
oocytes, a burdening, time consuming and not risk-free intervention (Delvigne
and rozenberg, 2002). one could ask women to allow more oocytes to be
'harvested' and fertilised during an iVF procedure than are strictly necessary
for a successful pregnancy and to donate the resulting embryos for research
purposes, or even give them incentives to do so, such as a reduction in the
fee for the iVF treatment (anon., 2006). This approach has been criticised
because it could easily lead to the inducement of women, which could turn
into outright exploitation if women were 'invited' to donate oocytes in
countries or social environments where women can exert very little control
over their bodies, lives and choices, or where a 'modest' compensation for
the discomforts of the donation may amount to a substantial increase in the
family's income (check, 2006).
The sobering outcome of a Us campaign to recruit unpaid egg donors
for research purposes has demonstrated that an appeal to purely altruistic
motives will probably not result in the availability of a large number of
oocytes for es research (Dizikes, 2007). as payment of oocyte or embryo
donors is currently prohibited in Europe, even though financial compensation
can be provided for expenses and the inconvenience related to the donation
procedure (The european Parliament and council, 2004), a shortage of eggs
and embryos for research is not unthinkable and the criteria for the allocation
of oocytes, embryos or cell lines to research projects will have to be refined.
