In vitro gametogenesis and reproductive cloning: Can we allow one while banning the other?

In vitro gametogenesis (IVG) is believed to be the next big breakthrough in reproductive medicine. The prima facie acceptance of this possible future technology is notable when compared to the general prohibition on human reproductive cloning. After all, if safety is the main reason for not allowing reproductive cloning, one might expect a similar conclusion for the reproductive application of IVG, since both technologies hold considerable and comparable risks. However, safety concerns may be overcome, and are presumably not the sole reason why cloning is being condemned. We therefore assess the non-safety arguments against reproductive cloning, yet most of these can also be held against IVG. The few arguments that cannot be used against IVG are defective. We conclude from this that it will be hard to defend a ban on reproductive cloning while accepting the reproductive use of IVG.

[Chapter 11. The impossible status of the embryo or the state withdrawal to the profit of vested interests]

The hesitations on the legal classification of the embryo lead to the doctrinal realization, that there is a certainty about its status, or, that it hasn't got any which allows the creator of the standard to reify it.The access to the claims which are based on specific interests seem to be at the heart of justifications to new legal rules concerning the embryo, even if It seems there are underlying specific interests.Confronted to the state disengagement in favour of these interests, the embryo, as far as French law is concerned, the embryo falls only under a limited protection which is destined to lose authority.

Harmonizing the International Regulation of Embryonic Stem Cell Research: Possibilities, Promises and Potential Pitfalls

Despite near unanimous global opposition to human reproductive cloning, the United Nations has been unable to reach a consensus as to how cloning practices should be regulated at the international level. As a result, the U.N. objective of establishing binding international regulations governing cloning and stem cell research has yet to be achieved. Given the lack of consensus that exists within the global community on this topic, it seems that any attempt to harmonize the international regulation of cloning and stem cell science will face important obstacles.

This paper seeks to illuminate the particular challenges to harmonizing international laws and policies related to stem cell research and human cloning, and to investigate potential methods for overcoming these challenges. By drawing on two other areas in which regulatory harmonization has been attempted, namely: environmental and human safety aspects of international trade, and pharmaceutical research and development, we study approaches to global regulatory harmonization. We conclude that while the challenges to harmonization are diverse and important, so too are the benefits of establishing uniformity in approaches to stem cell research worldwide. This paper proposes a model for harmonizing the regulation of stem cell research that focuses on broader norms and principles rather than specific rules. It further recommends that such harmonization should occur through a process initiated and developed by an independent international agency marked by diversity, both in terms of the cultural identities and perspectives represented, and the interdisciplinary expertise of its members.

Omnis definitio periculosa est: on the Definition of the Term “Embryo” in the Human Fertilisation & Embryology Act 1990

In adopting a purposive interpretation of the definition of the term “embryo” in the Human Fertilisation & Embryology Act 1990, the Court of Appeal judgement in R (on the application of B. Quintavalle on behalf of Pro-Life Alliance) v. Secretary of State for Health effectively stifled democratic debate on the development of therapeutic cloning techniques. Instead of being evidence of the flexibility of the statute to adapt to the rapid evolution of scientific techniques, the judgment bears witness to a certain dependence of the law on scientific criteria and moreover, raises the question of legitimate judicial function. Indeed, judges should not be seen to be deciding questions of social choice that should ultimately be decided through the democratic process. Although the purposive approach may be objectively justified, it is suggested that the appeal judges erred in their appreciation of the very purpose of the 1990 Act. It is argued that the Parliamentary debates in 1990 illustrate that the purpose of the 1990 Act does not go beyond the area of procreation and embryo research in this context. Consequently, it is claimed that no economy should have been made on a full democratic debate. By preventing such a debate, the Court of Appeal appears to admit that the law has become servile to the scientific, political and a fortiori economic, interests at stake.

FDA Regulation of Clinical Applications of CRISPR-CAS Gene-Editing Technology

Scientists have repurposed an adaptive immune system of single cell organisms to create a new type of gene-editing tool: CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats)-Cas technology. Scientists in China have reported its use in the genome modification of non-viable human embryos. This has ignited a spirited debate about the moral, ethical, scientific, and social implications of human germline genome engineering. There have also been calls for regulations; however, FDA has yet to formally announce its oversight of clinical applications of CRISPR-Cas systems. This paper reviews FDA regulation of previously controversial biotechnology breakthroughs, recombinant DNA and human cloning. It then shows that FDA is well positioned to regulate CRISPR-Cas clinical applications, due to its legislative mandates, its existing regulatory frameworks for gene therapies and assisted reproductive technologies, and other considerations.

Germline Manipulation and Our Future Worlds

Two genetic technologies capable of making heritable changes to the human genome have revived interest in, and in some quarters a very familiar panic concerning, so-called germline interventions. These technologies are: most recently the use of CRISPR/Cas9 to edit genes in non-viable IVF zygotes and Mitochondrial Replacement Therapy (MRT) the use of which was approved in principle in a landmark vote earlier this year by the United Kingdom Parliament. The possibility of using either of these techniques in humans has encountered the most violent hostility and suspicion. However it is important to be aware that much of this hostility dates back to the fears associated with In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) and other reproductive technologies and by cloning; fears which were baseless at the time concerning both IVF and cloning the use of both of which have proved to be highly beneficial to humanity and which have been effectively regulated and controlled. This paper argues that CRISPR should by pursued through researh until it is safe enough for use in humans but there is no reason to suppose at this stage that such use will be unsafe or unethical (Collins 2015).

What justifies the United States ban on federal funding for nonreproductive cloning?

This paper explores how current United States policies for funding nonreproductive cloning are justified and argues against that justification. I show that a common conceptual framework underlies the national prohibition on the use of public funds for cloning research, which I call the simple argument. This argument rests on two premises: that research harming human embryos is unethical and that embryos produced via fertilization are identical to those produced via cloning. In response to the simple argument, I challenge the latter premise. I demonstrate there are important ontological differences between human embryos (produced via fertilization) and clone embryos (produced via cloning). After considering the implications my argument has for the morality of publicly funding cloning for potential therapeutic purposes and potential responses to my position, I conclude that such funding is not only ethically permissible, but also humane national policy.

[The embryonic stem cells research. Example of biotechnology progress under extra-scientific pressure]

The possibility to isolate, cultivate, preserve, characterize and differentiate Human Embryonic Stem Cells (ES) discovered by James Thomson and his colleagues in 1998 was a milestone in the history of Stem Cell Research. Immediately after this discovery many speculations were made about the therapeutic possibilities of ES, motivated by ideological, political and economic aspects. The episode made clear the lack of scientific rationality and ethics when assessing realities as meaningful as those of human embryos obtained by in vitro fertilization techniques (IVF) or human eggs. Therapeutic Cloning as a promise to produce ″tailored″ Stem Cells reported by Hwang and his team in 2004, ended up being a scandal within the scientific community. The technical difficulties and ethical controversies that arose from obtaining ES were insurmountable. In 2010 only two clinical trials were reported using these cells. Those trials were abandoned in late 2011 arguing financial reasons. The discovery of Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell (iPS) in 2006 in mice and in 2007 in humans, represented the possibility of obtaining pluripotent stem cells without the need to destroy embryos. Today, the absence of clinical trials using ES, caused by financial difficulties as a result of its ineffectiveness, anticipates that the use of ES will be limited to certain experimental controls. Probably, the main contribution of Embryonic Stem Cells will be the understanding that biomedical research should follow an ethically and rationally based rigorous method that cannot be ignore.

[Triploid cloned human embryos: ethical, social, and legal aspects]

This work attempts to place the experiment within the scientific and social framework of pluripotent-stem-cell research and offer reflections of an ethical and (to a lesser extent) legal nature on the results obtained by this research group. To these ends, the work is divided into two parts. The first part describes the most important aspects of Noggle and Egli's announcement and the biotechnological and media context in which it was made. The second part is concerned with the bioethical issues raised by the experiment. There are basically four issues, which relate to: (1) the nuclear transfer technique, (2) the use of human ovules to carry out the experiment, (3) the destruction of human blastocysts, and (4) the ethical requirements of scientific publications.

Negotiating meanings about embryos in Australia: from potential humans to prohibited substances

In the late 1990s, human embryonic stem-cell research became a highly emotional and politicized debate. In 2001, the United States announced a ban on all federal funding for research involving human embryos, and other countries around the world were similarly engaged in political debate at the same time, and for very similar reasons--namely, that embryos are regarded as unique entities that warrant special protection. This article tracks the transformations in the history of legislative response in Australia to the anxieties provoked by the use of reproductive and regenerative human material over the last 40 years, in order to examine how embryos have come to adopt such a special position in the community's psyche. "The embryo" is at once a biological, scientific, social, cultural, and political object, fixed by the legislative processes that seek to define it, and subject to definitions that change over time. Understanding the history of where our ideas about the embryo have come from can help us to negotiate the continuing debate about the use of human embryos in research.

Attitudes of social science students in Israel and Austria towards the belated twins scenario--an exploratory study

This article discusses results of a questionnaire survey of 156 university students in Israel and Austria examining reactions towards the Belated Twins scenario, which entails the artificial twinning of embryos of which one is immediately carried to term while the other one is born later. The scenario resembles a case of human reproductive cloning in terms of result (the creation of genetically identical individuals in a time-delayed manner) but it involves gamete fusion like "natural" reproduction. By means of qualitative text analysis we discuss the core themes mobilized both in support and opposition to the scenario. While Israeli and Austrian respondents held similar general attitudes (about half were in favour of legalizing Belated Twins, while about a third opposed it), they drew partly on different arguments to arrive at their conclusions. In both groups, uncertainty stemming from "novel" elements in the scenario was regularly interpreted as negatively exacerbating existing issues.

[Legal regulation of cloning in the United States]

In a controversial matter such as cloning the study of the treatment that it raises in the first technological, political and cultural power is essential. Its role, in many ways, on the leading of the Humanity progress deserves a detailed attention. Moral pluralism in a country where various ethical-religious traditions converge and coexist, the kaleidoscopic legal structure of a Federal State, the strength of its biotechnology industry, the passion for research that crosses the nation and the frontier spirit in facing new challenges become the first power pioneer in many social phenomena and a mirror to look at other countries in an attempt to emulate its achievements (or to follow in its mistakes). The debate on the constitutionality of cloning hinges on the ability of public authorities to interfere in personal decisions and on the existence of more valuable public interest that justify such intervention. This article also discusses the criteria for awarding the regulation of cloning to the federation or to the states.

[The juridical desprotection of the human embryos post the new law of human assisted reproduction and the law of biomedical investigation]

This research try to analyse the juridical statute of the human embryos in accordance with two recent laws which contain ordesr what affects him: the new Law of assisted reproduction technology -Law 14/2006, of 26 may (LRA)-, and the law of biomedical investigation -Law 14/2007, of 3 july (LIB)-, because the embryos in vitro is considered devoid of the quality what give the human dignity, why is allowed not only to research and to test with the remaining preembryos of assisted reproduction, but also to clone embryos with therapeutic purposes and to make a embryonic selection in order to cure other sons of the woman that recourse to fertilization in vitro through the donation of genetic material from the future baby.

[The progressive legal vulnerability of embryonic human life in Spain: the law 35/1988 to 14/2006 and law 14/2007]

This article examines the Laws on Human Assisted Reproduction and Biomedical Research in Spain. The Laws permit the use of human ovules, embryos and fetuses. Close to the technical and ethical problems that carry the research on embryonic stem cells, the detection of induced reprogramming of adult cells to an embryonic stage (iPS) opens up new perspectives in regenerative medicine. It makes unnecessary the use of frozen embryos or produced by nuclear transfer. These reasons would involve a review of the Spanish Legislation in this matter, in order that the human life is an ethical barrier and a fundamental to actual biomedical research.

[Some remarks on the protection of human embryo in the Spanish law]

We study in this article the Spanish legislation regulating the juridical status of the human embryo, in a comparative analysis with the International Right and the legislation in other countries of our cultural environment, leading to the conclusión that ours contradicts the international compromises of Spain and is less protective with the unborn human life than the juridical systems which advocate for the human being from the very moment of conception.

Inter-species embryos and human clones: issues of free movement and gestation

The United Kingdom's Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill, introduced into Parliament on the 8th of November 2007 contains a number of controversial proposals inter alia expressly permitting the creation of inter-species embryos for research and destruction and increasing the scope for human cloning also for destructive research. It is supposed that there ought not to be a blanket ban on the creation of human clones, hybrids, cybrids and chimeras because these embryos are valuable for research purposes. The prohibition on the gestation of non-permitted embryos and interspecies embryos is used to generate confidence that embryos with compromised origins would not be gestated and reared. The argument outlined here demonstrates how uncertain are any legal prohibitions on gestation. Accordingly, the practical import of the distinction between compromised embryos for research and the same for live birth is equally dubious. The legislation would not, on this analysis, supply effective controls over this reproductive technology.

[Towards social eugenics. Ideology and bioethics in the construction of the social policy]

The social eugenics is the real face of the biomedical application of an ideological paradigm, self-styled like "progressive", that claims the radical transformation of the western society from laicist and utilitarians positions. This article tries to decipher the historical roots, the bioethical language and the political - social implications of this paradigm, which questions the essential dignity of any human life in benefit of "new rights", constructed ex professo. For it, it exposes three analytical dimensions of his "historical possibilities" (retrospective, perspective and Forward studies), taking as an example the role of the social Policy, and especially, the doctrinal and institutional paradoxes of the "Welfare state" in Spain.

[Scope of the cause of justification of the legitimate exercise of a right in the area of genetic criminality]

The Spanish penal Code of 1995 creates various crimes in relation to biotechnology, namely, the offence of genetic manipulation, the offence of cloning and the offence of fertilization of human eggs for purpose others than procreation. These new offences seek to protect new legal interests. But besides these interests, we must not forget that there also exist certain rights of the person that rely on reproductive and genetic technologies to be fully effective. That is why it is inevitable to bring to the discussion other interests of a different nature that may be in conflict with these new legal interests. This is the case in relation to the right to procreate and the right to scientific research. According to Article 20.7 of the Spanish penal Code, a person may justifiably engage in conduct that satisfies the elements of an offence if he has a right to do so. In this work the author analyses if certain conduct that could harm some legal interests, and therefore would be criminally punishable could be justified on the basis of the abovementioned rights to procreate and to undertake scientific research.

[The discrete horror of cloning]

The author raises the topic of cloning after the decision of the Argentine government, which concerned for the "dignity of the human person", passed a decree of need and urgency, No. 200/97 (Annex), prohibiting cloning experiments with human beings. Therefore, considering that the topic is so terribly urgent and necessary, the author feels it is timely to consider it.

Cloned animal products in the human food chain: FDA should protect American consumers

Animal cloning is "complex process that lets one exactly copy the genetic, or inherited, traits of an animal." In 1997, Dolly the sheep was the first animal cloned and since then "scientists have used animal cloning to breed dairy cows, beef cattle, poultry, hogs and other species of livestock." Cloned animals are highly attractive to livestock breeders because "cloning essentially produces an identical copy of an animal with superior traits." The main purpose of cloning livestock is "more focused on efficiency and economic benefits of the producer rather than the overall effect of cloning on an animal's physical and mental welfare." The focus of this article is threefold. First, the science behind animal cloning is explained and some potential uses and risks of this technology are explored. Second, FDA's historical evolution, current regulatory authority, and limitations of that authority, is described. Lastly, a new regulatory vision recognizes the realities of 21st century global markets and the dynamic evolution of scientific discovery and technology.

[Cloning: necessary reflections on the imaginary]

The article covers the innumerable reasons given for using cloning for therapeutic and reproductive purposes. The most commonly used argument in favour of the procedure has been that of preserving human dignity, which would include the wide exercising of personal autonomy without restrictions of an ethical nature. This view is countered by questions relating to the use of the technique, namely self-determination and the loss of the integrity of the species, which would include the transformation of a generation through the production of human beings and tissues. It must also be made clear that therapeutic cloning (which is carried out through the use of stem cells) is not yet a reality in the scientific world, with the result that the procedure that is supposedly necessary, which argues in favour of the destruction of the young embryo is misleading, as are also certain discourses used to refer to the theme and the science. Criminal law, on prohibiting this practice is anticipating it becoming a reality, protecting legal rights that affect supra-individual interests, such as the destruction of the young embryo, one of the issues of concern to ADIN (Acción Directa de Inconstitucionalidad en Brasil - Direct Action on Unconstitutionality in Brazil) 3510-0.

Therapeutic cloning in Australia: one small stem from man, one giant leap for mankind

In 2002 the Australian Parliament enacted legislation which prohibited both therapeutic and reproductive embryonic cloning. Just four years later, in December 2006, this same legislation was amended, reversing the prohibition on therapeutic cloning, while retaining the ban on reproductive cloning. The Prime Minister, sensing the political mood, allowed a conscience vote. This contrasted with his decision several months earlier against introducing any changes to the 2002 Act, despite 54 recommendations having been made by a Statutory Review Committee. Approval of the legislation had as much to do with the careful drafting of the provisions as with any rational, social or scientific factor. The legislation is narrow in scope, retains an absolute prohibition on reproductive cloning and contains strict regulations with heavy criminal penalties. The Act requires a review after three years. A number of questions remain. Does stem cell research demand a global rather than a local approach, by way of an international Covenant? Does the legal status of a cloned embryo need further examination? Will the embryo have a separate legal standing recognised by law? These are some of the questions which will need addressing as the law tries to keep up with science.

The Lockhart Committee: developing policy through commitment to moral values, community and democratic processes

The Lockhart Committee was appointed by the federal government in 2005 to review the Prohibition of Human Cloning Act 2002 (Cth) and the Research Involving Human Embryos Act 2002 (Cth). The issues in the review are ones on which community views differ widely and many people hold strong and diverging opinions. Yet all members of the committee were able to agree on their recommendations when the committee reported to Parliament in December 2005 and since that time, most of its recommendations have been implemented in amendments to federal and State legislation. This article describes the committee's process in considering the issues in the review, in consulting stakeholders and the broader community and in formulating its recommendations.

[The legal status of the embryo in Spain: from the reproduction act of 1988 to therapeutic cloning nowadays]

Starting with the first regulation on assisted reproduction of 1988, the author reviews the different measures in matters of protection of the human embryo that have been generated in these last years, with special attention to the doctrine of the Constitutional Tribunal. The author makes a comparative analysis of its evolution up to the present time, in which there has been an approval of the biomedical research law of 2007 in Spain, and with it, the so-called therapeutic cloning.

The Dao of human cloning: utopian/dystopian hype in the British press and popular films

The issue of human cloning has featured in the national science policy agendas in both the United States and the United Kingdom since the announcement in 1997 of Dolly the cloned sheep's birth in Scotland. Such news stories suggesting the imminent cloning of humans have inspired fictional entertainment media over the years, including numerous popular films. Study 1 examines elite British press coverage of human cloning from 1997 to 2004 (n = 857). Study 2 focuses on five human cloning films released between 1978 and 2003. Two sharply divergent discourses emerged from these data. Unqualified hope and habitually hyped claims of future cures permeated the press discourse. In contrast, the films constructed human cloning as an inherently dangerous technology often wielded by hubristic scientists in the tradition of Frankenstein. Both the predominately positive hype in the broadsheet press and the largely negative hype in the films indicate an impoverished and "thin" public debate on the issue of human cloning.

Human cloning and stem cell research: engaging in the political process. (Legislation review: prohibition of Human Cloning Act 2002 and the research involving Human Embryos Act)

Committees appointed by governments to inquire into specific policy issues often have no further role when the Committee's report is delivered to government, but that is not always so. This paper describes the activities of members of the Australian Committee on human cloning and embryo research (the Lockhart Committee) to inform Parliament and the community about the Committee's recommendations after its report was tabled in Parliament. It explains their participation in the political process as their recommendations were debated and amending legislation was passed by Parliament. It illustrates a method of communication about scientific and policy issues that explores people's concerns and what they 'need to know' to make a judgment; and then responds to questions they raise, with the aim of facilitating discussion, not arguing for one view. The paper considers whether this type of engagement and communication is appropriate and could be used in other policy discussions.

Resolving the "egg supply problem" in human embryonic stem cell derivation through technical means--a legal and ethical analysis

This paper seeks to briefly discuss the legal and ethical problems connected to scientific developments in the field of human embryonic stem cell derivation aimed at solving the "egg supply problem" in stem cell research. The legal situation is discussed in respect of the UK's current regulatory regime, proposed reform and the Oviedo Convention. The scientific developments which are examined are chimeric embryos, in vitro maturation of oocytes, derivation of stem cell lines in connection with pre-implantation genetic diagnosis and the derivation of oocytes from existing stem cell lines.