- And… We’re Back.
- Transitions
- Bioethical Marching Orders
- FDA Intervention Shelves Plan for Drugstore Genome Tests
- The Boons of an NIH Boost
- Crime Lab DNA Databases Under the Microscope
- Domes of Carbon Over U.S. Cities Damage Urban Health
- FDA Rules for Cigarettes Are a Victory for Public Health, for Science (and for the Earth’s Climate?)
- Legislation Introduced to Codify Stem Cell Rules
- Commissioner Enhances FDA’s Commitment to Personalized Medicine
- Perfecting Policy on Stem Cells
- NIH and FDA Aim to Retool Regulatory Science
- September 2010
- August 2010
- July 2010
- June 2010
- May 2010
- April 2010
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- August 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
- February 2009
- January 2009
- December 2008
- November 2008
- October 2008
- September 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- February 2008
- January 2008
- December 2007
- November 2007
- October 2007
- September 2007
Legislation Introduced to Codify Stem Cell Rules
Last week, Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO) introduced a bill that would codify the bedrock bioethical safeguards for federally-funded human embryonic stem cell research. These provisions reflect the guidelines that have been in effect at the National Institutes of Health since last July and also align with the guidelines that the Center for American Progress recommended in the January 2009 report “A Life Sciences Crucible.”
Specifically, the legislation ensures that the cells are procured from embryos that were created through in-vitro fertilization for reproductive therapy, were deemed in excess of the patient’s clinical need, and would otherwise be discarded. The patients must also provide informed consent and must not receive any financial inducements.
These provisions uphold basic values that protect the autonomy of embryo donors and grant special consideration to the moral status of the embryo while also fostering the advancement of scientific knowledge for the common good and the benefit of patients everywhere.
It is encouraging to see legislators championing the intellectually robust research standards that the bioethics community has consistently advocated over years of sincere and informed discussion on the science and ethics of stem cell research.
Comments on this article
