Lecture 20: Ethics and Regulation Flashcards
What is ethics?
Ethics refers to the series of rules provided to an individual by an external source. (ex. government or religion)
What are morals?
Morals refer to an individuals OWN principals regarding right and wrong.
What is the importance of blastocysts when discussing ethics and regulation?
A blastocyst is a structure formed during the early embryonic development of mammals. It contains an inner cell mass which is what forms the embryo. A blastocyst is a matter of discussion since there are contradictions on whether they are considered “alive” and human the moment they are formed.
What is in vitro fertilization?
In vitro fertilization is the procedure of helping conceive a child by collecting eggs and sperm and artificially fertilizing in a dish then placing them into a uterus.
What is the issue with IVF?
-IVF is a really expensive process.
-not covered by insurance
What happens to IVF blastocysts ?
After the mother has become pregnant, they have a choice to continue paying for their storage but usually they are discarded since insurance does not help pay.
What are the views of IVF patients?
most of them have donated their blastocysts to research
What did former President Bush do?
He banned federal funding of any human stem cell lines made after the date of his law.
2004 California State Proposition 71
a successful campaign that was passed for stem cell research
-passed with 59% of vote
-established CIRM
-provided $3 billion of stem cell research in CA
-lead to other states having funding in later years (NJ, NY, CO)
How did the $3 billion investment in CIRM affect CA?
there was a more than threefold return on investment to California.
-cost $3 billion but CA had an economic impact of $10.7 billion
Who ended the stem cell research ban?
In 2009, former President Obama ended the SC research ban.
-now researchers could apply for federal funding
What are the state and country regulations on stem cell research?
Well, it varies from state to state in the US.
- it also varies country to country in the world since each country has different laws on SCR
Who will pay for stem cell treatments?
This is still unknown!
Will it be insurance, government or patients paying for it?
-leads to only rich people being able to afford these kinds of treatments.
Is the catholic church okay with iPSC research?
Actually, the Catholic Church is okay with iPSC research. Yamanaka was named member of the pontifical academy of science by Pope Francis.
Do we still need to use embryonic stem cells?
There are some genetic differences between iPSCs and ESCs
- Female human iPS cells retain an inactive X- chromosome.
-genetic disease is better treated with iPSc
Can you clone a human?
Well, there was a sheep named Dolly that was cloned.
What are the regulations on cloning?
The federal government has not yet agreed on how to regulate human cloning.
What is SCNT (somatic cell nuclear transfer)?
the method used to make Dolly the sheep. It involves the transfer of the nucleus of a somatic cell into the cytoplasm of an egg whose own chromosomes have been removed.
Sperm and eggs can both be made from ___
mouse ESCs and iPSCs
Eggs can now also be made from ___
human ESCs and iPSCs
-they are lab grown human eggs!
What can Blastocysts like structures be made from?
iPSCs
How are cerebral organoids changing the field?
-they are only 4mm wide but can show cortical layers and hippocampus.
-have showed electrical patterns that resemble those of premature babies.
What is wrong with cerebral organoids?
-they develop unorganized when compared to a real human brain
-they take time to grow
List the 3 ways to clone a person.
- somatic cell nuclear transfer (Dolly)
- make sperm and eggs
- make blastocysts from iPSCs
