Stem Cell Research in India: Socio-Ethical Concerns (original) (raw)
The discovery of stem cells in the early 1980s and establishment of first hESC line in 1998 had suggested therapeutic approaches to chronic, debilitating and incurable diseases. This scientific triumph triggered an ethics and policy argument that persists even today.Bioethicists, religious pioneers, government authorities, patient groups, and researchers keep on debating whether this field of study represents a promise, a risk, or a blended moral picture for society Most of the ethical debate surrounding stem cell research focus on the moral status of embryos and slippery slope argument. Besides this, stem cell research raises other important issues such as the issue of informed consent, donor’s health risk, the commodification of body, etc. that have received relatively little attention in the public arena. The transition in the focus of stem cell research from basic science to the development of therapies raises the important question of justice.Another question related to stem cell research is about the appropriate allocation of government and private resources in biomedicine and issue of proportionality. We have to weigh up the budding therapeutic benefits of stem cell research against its possible harms and disadvantages. The current paper will discuss the major arguments on the matter of ethics, equity and justice in the stem cell research field and will review the current policy regulation related to stem cell research and therapy including the situation of stem cell research in India.
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