WEDNESDAY, July 11, 2001 (HealthDayNews) -- In a world-first move that has powerful political implications, Virginia scientists have created dozens of embryos solely for the purpose of harvesting them for stem cells.
The announcement comes as President Bush weighs whether the government will fund studies of so-called embryonic stem cells, a debate with passionate voices on both sides.
Many religious conservatives argue that the research is effectively abortion, and thus murder, even though the embryos are not in a woman's womb nor are likely ever to be. On the other side, scientists and advocates for patients with Parkinson's disease, diabetes and other conditions that could benefit enormously from the research say a ban on federal funding would set back medical progress significantly.
Stem cells can be coaxed into becoming virtually any tissue in the body, and thus offer an essentially unlimited supply of tissue for diseased or damaged organs. Although embryos are an obvious source of these versatile cells, scientists have recently discovered ways to derive them from adult cells, obviating the religious and ethical complications. However, these cells may not be as versatile as those drawn from embryos.
In the latest study, researchers at the Jones Institute for Reproductive Medicine in Norfolk say they created 50 embryos from 162 donor eggs and sperm, and harvested 40 for stem cells. In the process of generating three lines of stem cells, the researchers destroyed the embryos.
The 12 egg donors, who were paid up to $2,000 for their reproductive cells, consented to the experiment, as did two men, who provided sperm in exchange for $50, according to the institute. Douglas Gardner, a spokesman for the institute, which is part of Eastern Virginia Medical School, said he could not comment on the researchers' motivation for performing the study, or what they intended to do with the stem cells they created and the remaining 10 embryos.
An ethics panel for the Jones Institute, which in 1981 conceived the first test-tube baby in America, approved the creation of embryos specifically for the generation of stem cells.
The National Institutes of Health and the National Bioethics Advisory Commission have both come out against federal funding for the creation of embryos to serve as reservoirs for stem cells, and there is currently a government freeze on such research. However, the Jones Institute work was conducted completely with private money.
"I think that the study demonstrates exactly the concern that some of us have had," says C. Ben Mitchell, a senior fellow at the Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity in Chicago. "Once we begin to approve embryonic stem cell research, all bets are off. Establishing boundaries becomes nearly impossible."
Mitchell calls the Jones Institute work "immoral and unconscionable" and says any research based on embryonic stem cells is "morally tainted." In addition, he says, "their timing is really bad. This just pours fuels on a fire that's raging."
In a statement released today, Richard Doerflinger, of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, says the latest study is "disturbing news" and "grotesque."
Although the results were published this week in the July issue of Fertility and Sterility, the researchers first presented them at a meeting of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine last October.
Alexander Capron, a bioethicist at the University of Southern California, expressed bewilderment at the Jones Institute report. "I'm puzzled from a scientific point of view as to why they felt the need to do this research," says Capron, a member of the bioethics advisory commission who supports work on embryos.
"This is not a fly-by-night clinic. It's a leading center. If they are willing to undertake this step, it certainly fuels the concern of people who oppose the destruction of embryos that there will be no line drawn by responsible scientists."
Robyn Shapiro, a lawyer and director of the Center for Bioethics at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, says the report from Virginia "cries out for the need for us to be able to have reasonable regulations about how we go about this sort of research."
Government funding for embryo experiments, under the auspices of the NIH, "would be a very wise step so that we can guide these advances in daylight," Shapiro adds.
What To Do
To learn more about stem cells, try the National Institutes of Health, or the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. You can also visit the Coalition for the Advancement of Medical Research.
For more on bioethics matters, check out Bioethics.net.
