Preface: Special Issue on Stem Cells (original) (raw)

2012, Ethics in Biology, Engineering and Medicine

Lori Gruen is a professor of philosophy; feminist, gender, and sexuality studies; and environmental studies at Wesleyan University. Her essay examines the ethics of egg donation and compensation and the commercialization of oocytes in IVF and stem cell research. She argues against policies that prohibit compensating women for their eggs either for IVF or research. Ronald Green, a professor of religion at Dartmouth College, explores the moral status of gametes derived from embryonic stem cells, the safety of new technology, and the effect of the new forms and outcomes of human reproductive technologies on children and families. Susan Crockin is an adjunct professor of law at Georgetown Law School, and Celine Lefebvre is a third-year law student at Georgetown Law School. Their article critically examines the concepts of fertilization, conception, and personhood. Informed by both law and biology, their analysis makes a critical distinction between fertilization and conception and provides insights into ongoing personhood initiatives that are redefining the legal and moral issues directing stem cell research and evolving reproductive technologies. Paul J. Cummins is a philosophy doctoral candidate at the Graduate Center, City University of New York, and fellow at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mt. Sinai. His essay addresses the question of potentiality with respect to human embryonic stem cell research. He asks, "Of what ethical importance is it that a biological entity has the potential to become a person?" and "Which entities have this potential?" He applies the concept of "potentiality" to human embryonic stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells, drawing important comparisons. Douglas Sipp is a stem cell policy expert and operations manager of the Riken Center for Developmental Biology, Kobe, Japan. His article addresses the moral claims made by different stakeholder groups in the stem cell debates and explores how their ideologies have influenced the social marketing and commercialization of stem cell interventions. This issue of the journal reaches across disciplinary lines, as do the issues the contributors address. The editors believe that we can all benefit by exploring the methods, arguments, literature, data, and conclusions from disciplines that inform the public and scientific debates on stem cells. This group of essays illustrate clearly and poignantly that science is embedded in culture and the two have a dialectical relationship, each affecting the other.