A lack of foresight? Jurisdictional uncertainties in the regulatory interface between the HFEA, the UK Stem Cell Bank and beyond

Legal Studies ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 511-535 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryan Morgan
Keyword(s):  
Embryonic Stem ◽  
Embryo Research ◽  
Es Cell ◽  
Statutory Interpretation ◽  
Cell Bank ◽  
Human Fertilisation ◽  
Department Of Health ◽  
Regulatory Architecture ◽  
Policy Objectives ◽  
The Uk

Much of the legal attention surrounding human embryonic stem (ES) cell research within the UK has, to date, focused on cloning techniques. Whilst this is both understandable and appropriate given litigation on this topic, there has been less focus on other areas. This paper identifies and analyses areas of incoherence and deficiency within the regulatory architecture governing human ES cell derivation and research within the UK. This is not merely a theoretical exercise, as there are indications that many of the policy objectives currently being pursued in this area have, at best, a shaky jurisdictional basis. It is all too easy to recall that lobby groups have challenged the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990, the legislative foundation for embryo research and most infertility treatment, on the basis of jurisdictional uncertainty and statutory interpretation. Whilst many pro-life campaigners are opposed to ES cell research on ethical grounds, the arguments utilised thus far in relation to litigation have been entirely legal, involving issues of statutory interpretation and whether the regulator, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), or the Department of Health have acted ultra vires the 1990 Act. This paper will reveal that there are a number of further areas which might be open to attack on this basis.

Discourse on Embryo Science and Human Cloning in the United States and Great Britain: 1984–2002

2005 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 802-810 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Weed
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Great Britain ◽  
Embryonic Stem ◽  
The United States ◽  
Human Cloning ◽  
Embryo Research ◽  
Human Fertilisation ◽  
Ethical Discourse ◽  
Science And Research ◽  
Made In

There is a stark difference between American and British policy on embryo science and research cloning. The following survey of the discourse offered both in support of and in opposition to research cloning and embryo science in the United States and Great Britain will show that the same arguments were made in both countries. The fact that similar ethical argumentation occurred in environments where different policy was set is an indicator that current frames for ethical discourse on embryonic stem cell research and human cloning do not effectively capture the debate in the form that politicians and possible consumers of services to be derived from embryo science face.The ethics surrounding embryo research and human cloning have been presented from virtually every possible viewpoint in all forms of medium. It is impossible to reprise every argument made on embryo science and research cloning; therefore, this survey will focus on some of the arguments made during the time leading up to the enactment of Great Britain's Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act of 1990 and the Human Fertilisation and Embryology regulations added to it in 2001.

13. Embryo Research, Stem Cells, and Emerging Biotechnologies

Medical Law ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. 691-734
Author(s):  
Emily Jackson
Keyword(s):  
Stem Cells ◽  
Stem Cell ◽  
Moral Status ◽  
Human Enhancement ◽  
Embryo Research ◽  
Stem Cell Therapies ◽  
Cell Therapies ◽  
Human Fertilisation ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Philosophical Debates

All books in this flagship series contain carefully selected substantial extracts from key cases, legislation, and academic debate, providing students with a stand-alone resource. This chapter examines embryo research, stem cell therapies and other emerging biotechnologies. It begins with a review of philosophical debates over the moral status of the embryo and then discusses regulation in the UK, through the statutory provisions in the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990, as amended, and the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority’s (HFEA) licensing regime. It then turns to consider stem cell therapies, before examining some other emerging biotechnologies, including neurotechnologies and AI, and debates over human enhancement.

scholarly journals The Morality of Killing Human Embryos

2006 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bonnie Steinbock
Keyword(s):  
Moral Status ◽  
Es Cells ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Embryonic Stem ◽  
The Other ◽  
Embryo Research ◽  
Human Embryos ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Es Cell ◽  
Undifferentiated Cells

Embryonic stem cell research is morally and politically controversial because the process of deriving the embryonic stem (ES) cells kills embryos. If embryos are, as some would claim, human beings like you and me, then ES cell research is clearly impermissible. If, on the other hand, the blastocysts from which embryonic stem cells are derived are not yet human beings, but rather microscopic balls of undifferentiated cells, as others maintain, then ES cell research is probably morally permissible. Whether the research can be justified depends on such issues as its cost, chance of success, and numbers likely to benefit. But this is an issue for any research project, not just ES cell research. What makes the debate over ES cell research controversial is that it, like the debate over abortion, raises “questions that politicians cannot settle: when does human life begin, and what is the moral status of the human embryo?” This paper looks at several theories of moral status and their implications for embryo research.

Independent commissions and labour migration: The British MAC

2014 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-32
Author(s):  
Philip L. Martin ◽  
Martin Ruhs
Keyword(s):  
Labour Force ◽  
Migration Policy ◽  
Foreign Workers ◽  
Foreign Born ◽  
Independent Evidence ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Labour Immigration ◽  
British Labour ◽  
Policy Objectives ◽  
The Uk

The independent Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) was created in 2007 after a decade in which the share of foreign-born workers in the British labour force doubled to 13 per cent. The initial core mandate of the MAC was to provide “independent, evidence-based advice to government on specific skilled occupations in the labour market where shortages exist which can sensibly be filled by migration.” The MAC's answers to these 3-S questions, viz, is the occupation for which employers are requesting foreign workers skilled, are there labour shortages, and is admitting foreign workers a sensible response, have improved the quality of the debate over the “need” for foreign workers in the UK by highlighting some of the important trade-offs inherent in migration policy making. The MAC can clarify migration trade-offs in labour immigration policy, but cannot decide the ultimately political questions about whose interests should be prioritised and how competing policy objectives should be balanced.

scholarly journals Assessment of the quality, content and perceived utility of local maternity guidelines in hospitals in England implementing the saving babies’ lives care bundle to reduce stillbirth

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. e000756
Author(s):  
Yu Zhen Lau ◽  
Kate Widdows ◽  
Stephen A Roberts ◽  
Sheher Khizar ◽  
Gillian L Stephen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Practice ◽  
Clinical Practice Guidelines ◽  
Practice Guidelines ◽  
Stakeholder Involvement ◽  
Care Bundle ◽  
Intrapartum Care ◽  
National Guidelines ◽  
Department Of Health ◽  
The Uk

IntroductionThe UK Department of Health have targeted a reduction in stillbirth by 50% by 2025; to achieve this, the first version of the Saving Babies’ Lives Care Bundle (SBLCB) was developed by NHS England in 2016 to improve four key areas of antenatal and intrapartum care. Clinical practice guidelines are a key means by which quality improvement initiatives are disseminated to front-line staff.MethodsSeventy-five clinical practice guidelines covering the four areas of antenatal and intrapartum care in the first version of SBLCB were obtained from 19 maternity providers. The content and quality of guidelines were evaluated using the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation (AGREE II) tool. Maternity health professionals in participating organisations were invited to participate in an anonymous survey to determine perceptions toward and experiences of the use of clinical practice guidelines using a series of Likert scales.ResultsUnit guidelines showed considerable variation in quality with median scores of 50%–58%. Only 4 (5.6%) guidelines were recommended for use in clinical practice without modifications, 54 (75.0%) were recommended for use subject to modifications and 12 (16.7%) were not recommended for use. The lowest scoring domains were ‘rigour of development’, ‘stakeholder involvement’ and ‘applicability’. A significant minority of unit guidelines omitted recommendations from national guidelines. The majority of staff believed that clinical practice guidelines standardised and improved the quality of care but over 30% had insufficient time to use them and 24% stated they were unable to implement recommendations.ConclusionTo successfully implement initiatives such as the SBLCB change is needed to local clinical practice guidelines to reduce variation in quality and to ensure they are consistent with national recommendations . In addition, to improve clinical practice, adequate time and resources need to be in place to deliver and evaluate care recommended in the SBLCB.

A homozygous mutant embryonic stem cell bank applicable for phenotype-driven genetic screening

2011 ◽  
Vol 8 (12) ◽  
pp. 1071-1077 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kyoji Horie ◽  
Chikara Kokubu ◽  
Junko Yoshida ◽  
Keiko Akagi ◽  
Ayako Isotani ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Stem Cell ◽  
Embryonic Stem Cell ◽  
Genetic Screening ◽  
Embryonic Stem ◽  
Cell Bank ◽  
Homozygous Mutant

scholarly journals Production of Mice Entirely Derived from Embryonic Stem (ES) Cell with Many Passages by Coculture of ES Cells with Cytochalasin B Induced Tetraploid Embryos.

1995 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
pp. 205-210 ◽  
Author(s):  
Otoya UEDA ◽  
Kouichi JISHAGE ◽  
Nobuo KAMADA ◽  
Satomi UCHIDA ◽  
Hiroshi SUZUKI
Keyword(s):  
Cytochalasin B ◽  
Es Cells ◽  
Embryonic Stem ◽  
Es Cell

Germ line transmission of an inactive N-myc allele generated by homologous recombination in mouse embryonic stem cells

1990 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 6755-6758
Author(s):  
B R Stanton ◽  
S W Reid ◽  
L F Parada
Keyword(s):  
Stem Cells ◽  
Embryonic Stem Cells ◽  
Homologous Recombination ◽  
Embryonic Development ◽  
Cell Lines ◽  
Germ Line ◽  
Es Cells ◽  
Embryonic Stem ◽  
Es Cell ◽  
Germ Line Transmission

We have disrupted one allele of the N-myc locus in mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells by using homologous recombination techniques and have obtained germ line transmission of null N-myc ES cell lines with transmission of the null N-myc allele to the offspring. The creation of mice with a deficient N-myc allele will allow the generation of offspring bearing null N-myc alleles in both chromosomes and permit study of the role that this proto-oncogene plays in embryonic development.

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