Stem cell research, especially using embryos, raises ethical questions on which people hold strongly different views.The status of the embryo
The main objection is that collecting embryonic stem cells destroys the embryo. Some people believe life, and full moral rights, begin at fertilisation, so destroying an embryo is equivalent to killing a person. Others believe an early embryo is a ball of cells that gains moral status gradually as it develops.Sources of embryos
Many embryos used are spare embryos left over from IVF treatment that would otherwise be discarded, which some people find more acceptable than creating embryos specifically for research.Other concerns
• Obtaining eggs involves hormone treatment with health risks, and paying donors could exploit poorer women.
• A slippery slope argument: allowing therapeutic cloning might lead towards reproductive cloning.
• Justice: expensive treatments may be available only to the wealthy.Ethical frameworks help structure decisions:
• rights and duties: some actions are wrong whatever the benefits, for example if the embryo has a right to life
• a utilitarian view: the right action produces the greatest good for the greatest number, so the benefit to many patients may outweigh the loss of early embryos.Regulation in the UK
Embryo research is licensed by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA). Embryos may be used only up to 14 days after fertilisation and must never be implanted into a woman.
The main objection is that collecting embryonic stem cells destroys the embryo. Some people believe life, and full moral rights, begin at fertilisation, so destroying an embryo is equivalent to killing a person. Others believe an early embryo is a ball of cells that gains moral status gradually as it develops.Sources of embryos
Many embryos used are spare embryos left over from IVF treatment that would otherwise be discarded, which some people find more acceptable than creating embryos specifically for research.Other concerns
• Obtaining eggs involves hormone treatment with health risks, and paying donors could exploit poorer women.
• A slippery slope argument: allowing therapeutic cloning might lead towards reproductive cloning.
• Justice: expensive treatments may be available only to the wealthy.Ethical frameworks help structure decisions:
• rights and duties: some actions are wrong whatever the benefits, for example if the embryo has a right to life
• a utilitarian view: the right action produces the greatest good for the greatest number, so the benefit to many patients may outweigh the loss of early embryos.Regulation in the UK
Embryo research is licensed by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA). Embryos may be used only up to 14 days after fertilisation and must never be implanted into a woman.