New technology raises hopes and ethical dilemmas. Society will have to work out what it thinks
Science often moves faster than moral thought progresses, leaving the public disoriented and exposing the limits of legislators’ imagination. Many people will be struggling to make sense of the astonishing breakthroughs presented at this week’s International Society for Stem Cell Research’s (ISSCR) annual meeting in Boston. The work by Prof Magdalena Żernicka-Goetz, of Cambridge University and the California Institute of Technology, creating human embryo-like models from stem cells, without the need for eggs or sperm, raises questions about life itself. There seems an element of playing God in growing a tiny human-ish beating heart in a lab, however scientifically desirable is Jitesh Neupane’s work at Cambridge’s Gurdon Institute.
Persuading stem cells to develop until clumps of them resemble an embryo or an embryonic organ in conditions that mimic the womb is currently an unregulated process in the UK, though transferring these into a woman’s womb is prohibited. However, given the similarities that these stem cell models have with human embryos, they offer enormous potential to unlock the secrets of early pregnancy and give an insight into what leads to miscarriages or birth defects. Without clear guidelines to promote responsible research and maintain public confidence in it, though, scientists only have their conscience – and the fear of losing their reputation – to guide them.
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