Stem Cell Research Ethics

• Stem cell research and biotechnology advancements are reshaping the ethical considerations surrounding sources beyond embryonic stem cells.
• Understanding "natural" stem cell therapies requires a more nuanced ethical landscape.

Beyond Embryonic Stem Cells

• Traditional ethical concerns regarding stem cells focus on the potential for creating human life and the moral implications of destroying embryos for research.

Emergence of Alternative Sources

• Stem cells have been identified in adult tissues like bone marrow and blood.
• Amniotic fluid and umbilical cord blood can also be sources of stem cells.
• Techniques to reprogram adult cells into induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) have emerged as well.

"Natural" Stem Cell Therapy

• The concept arose from the body's natural utilization of stem cells for repair and regeneration, especially in rapidly dividing tissues like blood cells.

Ethical Considerations with Alternative Sources

• Ethical debates surround the collection and use of somatic stem cells from aborted fetuses and umbilical cord blood.
• iPSCs, reprogrammed adult cells acting like embryonic stem cells, raise concerns about off-target effects and long-term safety.
• Perinatal stem cells, found in amniotic fluid and umbilical cord blood, are being explored, but raise questions about consent, storage, and future applications.

Biotechnology and Stem Cell Research

• Biotechnology is crucial for developing tools and therapeutics by modifying and engineering stem cells.

Ethical Frameworks

• Applying existing ethical frameworks and considering new ethical implications is important as stem cell research progresses.
• This ensures the safe, effective, and accessible clinical translation of basic stem cell knowledge for patient therapies.

Examples of Stem Cell Therapies

• Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation is currently the only FDA-approved stem cell therapy.
• It is used to treat blood cancers and other conditions.
• Research is ongoing to develop stem cell treatments for neurodegenerative diseases, diabetes, heart disease, and other conditions.

Ethical Challenges

• Ensuring patients understand the risks and benefits of stem cell therapies is crucial for informed consent.
• The high costs of stem cell therapies raise concerns about equitable access to treatment.
• Ensuring that stem cell therapies are based on scientific evidence and that clinical trials are conducted ethically and transparently is essential.

Facts about Natural Stem Cell Therapy

• Stem cells actively replace damaged cells in adult tissues, especially rapidly dividing cells like blood cells.
• Natural stem cell therapy may be provided to a mother by her fetus.
• It is essential to morally evaluate it, to demonstrate the importance of stem cell research and therapy even without agreement about the definition of when embryonic life begins.
• Somatic cell nuclear transfer and parthenogenic stem cell derivation fulfill the criterion.

Case study

• Acute liver failure prompted a 37 year old mother of three to reject treatment and seek a liver transplant before she began to recover six months later.
• Pregnancy-associated progenitor cells (PAPCs) were discovered and help explain that a woman giving birth to a son, can retain some of their fetal cells.
• PAPCs can give rise to multiple cell types along the hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) pathway of differentiation.
• Fetal stem cells can be found in the maternal circulation up to 27 years after birth
• Studies show a woman has cancerous thyroid cells surrounded by her son's fetus, plus a woman with liver disease had healthy livers derived from PAPCs.
• The idea of fetal cells expressing non-hematopoietic markers may offer long-term health implications for women.
• More than 400,000 in vitro fertilization treatments in the US can be used a sources of embryonic stem cells.
• Fetal stem cells that heal a liver can be derived from adults transfer hematopoietic cells from the placenta for decades.
• Hematopoietic stem cells cannot transdifferentiate into other cells so circulating cells are from an embryonic origin.

More Ethical Considerations

• Opponents of embryonic stem cell research who may support assisted reproductive tech, argue it should only be used to give weight to lives of full pregnancies.
• Advocates say that In vitro fertilization is only assisting reproduction, and the transplant represents what a pacemaker does.
• Critics feel using this technology is disrespecting the sanctity of the embryo.
• Advances in medical technology attempt to alleviate pain, therefore intent to help should seem to override that argument.
• There tends to be failure in communicating maternal development that should give way to stem cell production.

Summary

• When it comes to perfected parthenogenic stem cells, treating woman with cell lines derived from their own eggs can be used for reproduction.
• Describing natural stem cells provided to a mother heralds the therapeutic value of an heterologous therapy.
• There should be a consensus on the embryo, because something can constitute life.
• Using parthenogenic stem cells falls on the positive side of a moral bright line, is a signal of the promise for stem cell therapy.
• Stem cells bare the power to cure future maladies.