The biological and ethical basis of the use of human embryonic stem cells for in vitro test systems or cell therapy

Marcel Leist; Susanne Bremer; Patrik Brundin; Jürgen Hescheler; Agnete Kirkeby; Karl Heinz Krause; Peter Pörzgen; Michel Pucéat; Mathias Schmidt; André Schrattenholz; Naomi B. Zak; Hannes Hentze

The biological and ethical basis of the use of human embryonic stem cells for in vitro test systems or cell therapy

Marcel Leist^*, Susanne Bremer, Patrik Brundin, Jürgen Hescheler, Agnete Kirkeby, Karl Heinz Krause, Peter Pörzgen, Michel Pucéat, Mathias Schmidt, André Schrattenholz, Naomi B. Zak, Hannes Hentze

^*Corresponding author for this work

57 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Human embryonic stem cells (hESC) are now routinely cultured in many laboratories, and differentiation protocols are available to generate a large variety of cell types. In an ongoing ethical debate opinions of different groups are based on varying sets of religious, historical, cultural and scientific arguments as well as on widely differing levels of general information. We here give an overview of the biological background for non-specialists, and address all issues of the current stem cell debate that are of concern in different cultures and states. Thirty-five chapters address embryo definition, potential killing and the beginning of human life, in addition to matters of human dignity, patenting, commercialisation, and potential alternatives for the future, such as induced pluripotent (reprogrammed) stem cells. All arguments are compiled in a synopsis, and compromise solutions, e.g. for the definition of the beginning of personhood and for assigning dignity to embryos, are suggested. Until recently, the major application of hESC was thought to be transplantation of cells derived from hESC for therapeutic use. We discuss here that the most likely immediate uses will rather be in vitro test systems and disease models. Major and minor pharmaceutical companies have entered this field, and the European Union is sponsoring academic research into hESC-based innovative test systems. This development is supported by new testing strategies in Europe and the USA focussing on human cell-based in vitro systems for safety evaluations, and shifting the focus of toxicology away from classical animal experiments towards a more mechanistic understanding.

Original language	English
Journal	Altex
Volume	25
Issue number	3
Pages (from-to)	163-190
Number of pages	28
ISSN	0946-7785
Publication status	Published - 1 Dec 2008

Keywords

Human embryonic stem cells
In vitro toxicology
iPs cells
Stem cell ethics

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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abstract = "Human embryonic stem cells (hESC) are now routinely cultured in many laboratories, and differentiation protocols are available to generate a large variety of cell types. In an ongoing ethical debate opinions of different groups are based on varying sets of religious, historical, cultural and scientific arguments as well as on widely differing levels of general information. We here give an overview of the biological background for non-specialists, and address all issues of the current stem cell debate that are of concern in different cultures and states. Thirty-five chapters address embryo definition, potential killing and the beginning of human life, in addition to matters of human dignity, patenting, commercialisation, and potential alternatives for the future, such as induced pluripotent (reprogrammed) stem cells. All arguments are compiled in a synopsis, and compromise solutions, e.g. for the definition of the beginning of personhood and for assigning dignity to embryos, are suggested. Until recently, the major application of hESC was thought to be transplantation of cells derived from hESC for therapeutic use. We discuss here that the most likely immediate uses will rather be in vitro test systems and disease models. Major and minor pharmaceutical companies have entered this field, and the European Union is sponsoring academic research into hESC-based innovative test systems. This development is supported by new testing strategies in Europe and the USA focussing on human cell-based in vitro systems for safety evaluations, and shifting the focus of toxicology away from classical animal experiments towards a more mechanistic understanding.",

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AU - Krause, Karl Heinz

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The biological and ethical basis of the use of human embryonic stem cells for in vitro test systems or cell therapy

Abstract

Keywords

UN SDGs

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