International egg-sharing to provide donor oocytes for clinical assisted reproduction and derivation of nuclear transfer stem cells

Payment of egg donors in stem cell research in the USA

Arguments have been put forth as to whether women who donate oocytes for human embryonic stem cell (HESC) research should be compensated, but data regarding this issue have been scant. Recently in the United States, several States have begun funding HESC research, and patient recruitment efforts have begun. This paper lays out relevant arguments and presents data concerning this issue. Researchers are finding that women are unwilling to donate eggs altruistically, which is hampering the progress of research. These efforts are examined, and data on potential donors' views are presented. The absence of payment, rather than ethical concerns, appears to explain opposition to donation. Women also appear generally ignorant of policies in this area. It is suggested that policy discussions shift focus from whether to pay, to how much would be appropriate, and how to decide; and that research and public and professional education be increased to heighten understanding and awareness of these issues.

Human therapeutic cloning (NTSC)

Human therapeutic cloning or nuclear transfer stem cells (NTSC) to produce patient-specific stem cells, holds considerable promise in the field of regenerative medicine. The recent withdrawal of the only scientific publications claiming the successful generation of NTSC lines afford an opportunity to review the available research in mammalian reproductive somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) with the goal of progressing human NTSC. The process of SCNT is prone to epigenetic abnormalities that contribute to very low success rates. Although there are high mortality rates in some species of cloned animals, most surviving clones have been shown to have normal phenotypic and physiological characteristics and to produce healthy offspring. This technology has been applied to an increasing number of mammals for utility in research, agriculture, conservation, and biomedicine. In contrast, attempts at SCNT to produce human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) have been disappointing. Only one group has published reliable evidence of success in deriving a cloned human blastocyst, using an undifferentiated hESC donor cell, and it failed to develop into a hESC line. When optimal conditions are present, it appears that in vitro development of cloned and parthenogenetic embryos, both of which may be utilized to produce hESCs, may be similar to in vitro fertilized embryos. The derivation of ESC lines from cloned embryos is substantially more efficient than the production of viable offspring. This review summarizes developments in mammalian reproductive cloning, cell-to-cell fusion alternatives, and strategies for oocyte procurement that may provide important clues facilitating progress in human therapeutic cloning leading to the successful application of cell-based therapies utilizing autologous hESC lines.

Oocyte donation for stem cell research

The future success of stem cell research by means of somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) depends on a sufficient supply of human oocytes. However, oocyte donation presents certain risks for the donor, and concerns for women's welfare are rightly vocalized. At the same time, these risks are comparable with the risks faced by other healthy research subjects. Thus, research donation can withstand ethical scrutiny if it fulfils the same conditions as other research involving healthy human subjects. Specifically, this means that the benefits of the research project need to outweigh the harms, that risks must be minimized, that informed consent has to be guaranteed by averting undue inducement and the recruitment of vulnerable women and that donors can and should be reimbursed for their research participation.