Did Sperm and Egg Donors Unwittingly Contribute to NIH-Approved Stem Cells?
By Jocelyn Kaiser,
ScienceInsider
| 02. 07. 2013
A review of the 200 or so human embryonic stem cell (hESC) lines
approved by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for federal funding has found a possible ethical problem: Some of the cells may have come from sperm or egg donors who didn't consent to having their cells used in research. University oversight committees should be aware that these cell lines may not meet widely accepted standards, the authors say.
In July 2009, following an order from President Barack Obama, NIH
issued guidelines laying out ethical standards that all hESC lines studied with NIH funding must meet. The cell lines must have been derived from surplus embryos donated by couples receiving fertility treatments, for example. But the guidelines
don't discuss the possibility that some embryos made have been created using donor eggs or sperm, even though 2005 National Academy of Sciences (NAS) guidelines call for consent from gamete donors. Research administrators at the Rockefeller University in New York City became concerned about this gap last year after a survey suggested that U.S. in vitro fertilization (IVF) clinics usually don't...
Related Articles
Reproductive rights have been a flashpoint in national politics for decades, with the stakes surging after the Supreme Court shredded the right to an abortion. In the current presidential campaign, the battle over abortion has swelled and morphed to encompass in vitro fertilization (IVF), which has now moved rapidly from widely accepted to partisan hot button.
This dramatic shift was highlighted by the February decision of the Alabama Supreme Court that granted personhood rights to frozen IVF embryos, signaling that...
By Ali Breland, The Atlantic | 08.20.2024
“Joining us now is Steve Sailer, who I find to be incredibly interesting, and one of the most talented noticers,” Charlie Kirk said on his internet show in October. Kirk, the 30-year-old founder of Turning Point USA, a right-wing...
By Megan Agnew, The Times | 09.15.2024
Faith Hartley always wanted two girls — a blonde and a redhead. “I thought, I’ll have one that looks like me,” says Hartley, 35, smoothing her golden hair in the Los Angeles valley home she shares with her husband, Neil...
By Emily R. Klancher Merchant, Los Angeles Review of Books | 08.22.2024
IN THE Operation Varsity Blues scandal of 2019, 50 wealthy parents were charged with trying to get their children into elite universities through fraudulent means. The story dramatically demonstrated the lengths to which some parents will go to ensure their...