Ethical Relationships: Stem Cell Research

"Stem cells are unspecialized cells that can develop into all the specialized cell types that organize themselves into the tissues, organs, and organ systems making up an entire individual..."

"Since the first fertilization of a human egg in the laboratory in 1968, scientific and technological breakthroughs have raised ethical dilemmas and generated policy controversies on both sides of the Atlantic. Embryo, stem cell, and cloning research have provoked impassioned political debate about their religious, moral, legal, and practical implications..."

"Few advances in science have generated as much excitement and public debate as the discovery of human embryonic stem cells. The potential of these cells to replace diseased or damaged cells in virtually every tissue of the body heralds the advent of an extraordinary new field of medicine that promises cures for diseases until now thought incurable..."

"This study addresses (i)the ethical viewpoints of Buddhist, Hindu and Catholic leaders on the permissibility of using surplus and research embryos; and (ii) the moral standpoints of religious leaders towards attaining a consensus on the practice of ESCR in Malaysia..."

"The purpose of the study is aimed at being a narrative on the history of stem cells and the evolution of their use to date, as well as to clarify the bioethical position of the various religions today in comparison with the social ones regarding the research and use of embryonic and adult ones..."

"The author offers his opinion about Dignitas personae, a document on bioethics issued by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) in December 2008. He cites that the primary focus of the document is on reproductive technologies and medications that have relation to embryos..."

"This paper analyses the emerging of the Italian regulatory framework on stem cell research using an analytical framework that considers the interplay between cultural structural features, political culture, traditions of ethical reasoning, institutional settings and the discursive and political agency of the actors involved..."