A microplate with embryos injected with Cas9 protein and PCSK9 sgRNA can be seen in a laboratory in Shenzhen, southern China’s Guangdong Province. Photo: Mark Schiefelbein / AP / dpa
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(Photo: dpa)
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The International Society for Stem Cell Research also spoke on Wednesday In accordance with international standards, scientists should be able to pursue high-level research goals, according to a statement published on Wednesday by the Leopoldina and the Union of German Academies of Sciences.
Also on Wednesday, the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) spoke out in favor of being able to cultivate embryos made from human stem cells for longer than the previously usual 14 days in the laboratory. According to this, researchers should be allowed to cultivate embryo models in the laboratory for as long as it serves the respective research purpose – but after individual testing.
In the last version of the international guideline from 2016, exceeding the 14-day rule was considered “prohibited activities”. Since then, research has made great strides – both in the cultivation of human embryos and, for example, in the creation of embryos from stem cells, explains the eleven-member working group for the new edition of the guideline in the journal “Stem Cell Reports”.
The authors come from the USA, Canada, Great Britain, Austria, Japan and China. “While the committee recognizes that the cultivation of a human embryo beyond 14 days is prohibited by law or regulation in many legal systems, it believes that a blanket ban in this area could hinder important research directions,” the group writes.
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Each research project should be examined and evaluated individually according to scientific and ethical aspects. It is particularly about the degree of integration of an embryo model – i.e. whether it develops all the characteristics required for further maturation or not. Accordingly, the transfer of an embryo into the uterus of a person or animal should continue to be prohibited.
In response to the new guideline, Thomas Zwaka from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York said: “Cell culture models beyond the 14-day rule are essential for our understanding of human development, as some of the most important developmental steps only take place after this period . It is also becoming increasingly clear that the basis of many serious developmental disorders can be grasped with the advanced models. ” Embryo models are not “real human life”. New guidelines are no longer necessary as many researchers have been aggressively pushing the boundaries of what is possible for years.
It is probably no coincidence that the Leopoldina statement was published on the same day as the new ISSCR guidelines. The Embryo Protection Act (ESchG) passed in 1990 allows the creation of human embryos in vitro for the purpose of reproduction, according to the statement. But it forbids any research on them. In countries such as Israel, Denmark, Sweden, Great Britain, the USA and Japan, on the other hand, research on early human embryos that are no longer needed for reproduction is permitted within narrow limits.
Surplus embryos that were created in the course of fertility treatments but are no longer needed should be allowed to be used for science. A specially created committee is to review the respective research projects and their goals.
The statement emphasizes that, according to international scientific opinion, there are a number of important questions that can only be scientifically processed with the help of embryo research. This includes the treatment of common diseases such as diabetes, osteoarthritis, heart attacks or strokes with the help of stem cell lines. In addition, it is about clarifying the early developmental biology of humans, improving reproductive medicine or better development of embryos and fetuses during pregnancy.
So far, German scientists have been able to contribute little to this research, the statement goes on to say. “Thirty years after the ESchG came into force, the academies believe it is time to reassess the legally permissible and ethically justifiable handling of early human embryos.”
From the point of view of science academies, the decision on whether to make surplus embryos available for research should lie with the couple from whom they come. When the family planning of these couples has been completed, the remaining embryos could only be discarded or donated for other couples.
According to the information, more than 319,000 children were born in Germany between 1997 and 2018 after in vitro fertilization (IVF). In the procedure, egg cells are removed from the woman after hormone administration and brought together with the man’s semen. In some cases, more embryos are created than are transferred to the woman.
“Research on early embryos in vitro, i.e. outside the human body, which were created for reproductive purposes but are no longer used for this purpose (…), should be in accordance with
international standards ”, recommends the opinion. “Permission for research should be included
apply exclusively to high-ranking research goals that serve to gain scientific knowledge in the context of basic research and the expansion of medical knowledge in the development of diagnostic, preventive or therapeutic procedures. “
A federal authority could therefore decide together with an ethics committee on the admissibility of the project. Embryo research has been causing intense debates for decades. Research interests play a role as well as ethical and legal considerations.
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