Fearing a non-existing Minotaur? The ethical challenges of research on cytoplasmic hybrid embryos

Camporesi, Silvia; Boniolo, Giovanni

doi:10.1136/jme.2008.024877

Cited by 15 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 35 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…From this the argument concludes that we should avoid legalizing PAS. Similar arguments can be seen in discussions of sedation-therapy and intentionally hastening the death of imminently dying patients (Rydvall et al 2014 ; Verhagen 2013 ; Camporesi and Boniolo 2008 ). The estimation of what will happen with the general public’s trust in healthcare is, although not the core issue, a common component in these slippery-slope arguments.…”

Section: Slippery-slope Argumentssupporting

confidence: 55%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Value-impregnated factual claims and slippery-slope arguments

Helgesson

Lynøe

Juth

2016

Med Health Care and Philos

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Slippery-slope arguments typically question a course of action by estimating that it will end in misery once the first unfortunate step is taken. Previous studies indicate that estimations of the long-term consequences of certain debated actions, such as legalizing physician-assisted suicide, may be strongly influenced by tacit personal values. In this paper, we suggest that to the extent that slippery-slope arguments rest on estimations of future events, they may be mere rationalizations of personal values. This might explain why there are proponents even for strikingly poor slippery-slope arguments.

show abstract

Section: Slippery-slope Argumentssupporting

confidence: 55%

“…Sometimes empirical studies can be carried out in order to examine the evidence for the estimations, while at other times this is not possible, for instance if there are no comparable situations from which to collect data. In the latter cases, the argument becomes irrefutable (Camporesi and Boniolo 2008 ).…”

Section: Slippery-slope Argumentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Value-impregnated factual claims and slippery-slope arguments

Helgesson

Lynøe

Juth

2016

Med Health Care and Philos

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The third technique aims to use animal ova [7,31,52] or ova differentiated from hESCs [46,65] to circumvent the shortage of human eggs needed for SCR and research cloning. There are reasons to doubt the efficacy of human-animal cybrid research (i.e., interspecies somatic cell nuclear transfer) to resolve social justice concerns arising from the demand for ova because stem cells derived from cybrids may not be effective for regenerative medicine due to cross-species differences in either gene expression [9] or energy production by the stem cells [60].…”

Section: Alternatives To Eggs and Embryosmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Ethics of Moral Compromise for Stem Cell Research Policy

Master

Crozier

2011

Health Care Anal

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In the US, stem cell research is at a moral impasse-many see this research as ethically mandated due to its potential for ameliorating major diseases, while others see this research as ethically impermissible because it typically involves the destruction of embryos and use of ova from women. Because their creation does not require embryos or ova, induced pluripotent stem cells offer the most promising path for addressing the main ethical objections to stem cell research; however, this technology is still in development. In order for scientists to advance induced pluripotent stem cell research to a point of translational readiness, they must continue to use ova and embryos in the interim. How then are we to ethically move forward with stem cell research? We argue that there is personal integrity and value in adopting a 'moral compromise' as a means for moving past the moral impasse in stem cell research. In a moral compromise, each party concedes part of their desired outcome in order to engage in a process that respects the values and desires of all parties equitably. Whereas some contend that moral compromise in stem cell research necessarily involves self-contradiction or loss of personal integrity, we argue that in the US context, stem cell research satisfies many of the key pre-conditions of an effective moral compromise. To illustrate our point, we offer a model solution wherein eggs and embryos are temporarily used until non-egg and non-embryonic sources of pluripotent stem cells are developed to a state of translational readiness.

show abstract

“…Severe forms requiring hospitalisation and potentially life-threatening are less common but by no means rare'. [ 40] Furthermore, in order to increase the supply of eggs, regulations now permit 'donors' to be 'compensated' at up to £750 a time, [41,37] and the Wellcome Trust Centre for Mitochondrial Research has already advertised that it will pay women £500 'for a completed donation cycle'. [42] This in effect encourages poor women to sell their eggs.…”

Section: The Lady Vanishes[footnote Vi] Againmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…When, in 2008, scientists were proposing to use admixed human-nonhuman embryos for research, [40] this was advocated in part on the basis of providing an alternative to the use of human eggs. At that time it was acknowledged that there were 'legitimate concerns about whether it is appropriate to encourage young women to undergo invasive and potentially harmful procedures without any direct medical benefit'.…”

Section: The Lady Vanishes[footnote Vi] Againmentioning

confidence: 99%

The other woman: Evaluating the language of ‘three parent’ embryos

Jones¹

2015

Clinical Ethics

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The British Parliament has recently approved regulations to allow techniques 'to prevent the transmission of serious mitochondrial disease from a mother to her child'. The regulations term these techniques 'mitochondrial donation', but in the popular media, the issue has been discussed under the heading of 'three parent' babies or 'three parent' embryos. This paper examines the language of the debate, with particular reference to one of the techniques approved. It concludes that the terminology of 'mitochondrial donation' is scientifically inaccurate and ethically misleading, while the popular media description of 'three parent' embryos is broadly accurate, at least for one technique. This latter phrase also has the great merit, from an ethical perspective, of drawing attention to the 'other woman', the egg donor. She takes risks with her health in order to provide the egg which supplies the body of the embryo. Without her, this embryo simply would not exist.

show abstract

Fearing a non-existing Minotaur? The ethical challenges of research on cytoplasmic hybrid embryos

Abstract: In this paper we address the ethical challenges of research on cytoplasmic hybrid embryos, or

Cited by 15 publications

References 35 publications

Value-impregnated factual claims and slippery-slope arguments

Value-impregnated factual claims and slippery-slope arguments

The Ethics of Moral Compromise for Stem Cell Research Policy

The other woman: Evaluating the language of ‘three parent’ embryos

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About