Where to for induced pluripotent stem cells
Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (iPSC) have been hailed and the ethical alternative to those derived from embryos. Do these cells add a new legal, social and scientific elements to the debate?
A workshop chocked full of international stem cell experts (legal, ethical and scientific) held in association with the 2009 annual meeting of the International Society for Stem Cell Research sat down to work this out. Their discussion is published in the 10 December issue of Cell. (Vol 139 (6) 11 December 2009)
iPSC are thought to have many of the same powers as embryonic stem cells, the difference being iPSCs don’t require the destruction of an embryo. It remains to be seen, however, if these iPSC are truly pluripotent and have the same abilities as embryonic stem cells.
But the rapid advances in iPS cell research and the hype surrounding the cells and large expectations placed upon the scientists working on them makes this workshop timely.
The workshop considered the various ethical, legal, social, and policy issues associated with iPS cell procurement and basic research including privacy, consent, intellectual property, and potential uses.
They also look at the issues linked to getting iPSC to the clinic, with reflection on the safety problems that occurred with gene therapy. Commercial pressure to get this technology to the clinic and its potential consequences was also considered.
Except for the odd nuance, I would suggest that the legal, political and ethical issues are no different to those already faced by many medical technologies, especially those related to embryonic stem cells and somatic cell nuclear transfer – cloning, privacy, equity of access…and so on.
But there is no harm in clarifying this and ensuring the dialogue continues, especially if it also encourages discussion among the general public as well.
Jason Major