Brightsurf Science News and Current Science News Events
 
Email a Friend Send to a friend
Printer Friendly Print More than half of infertile couples may be willing to donate unused embryos to stem cell research

More than half of infertile couples may be willing to donate unused embryos to stem cell research

June 21, 2007

DURHAM, N.C. -- In a survey of over a thousand patients who have created and frozen embryos as part of fertility treatment, 60 percent said they would be likely to donate unused embryos for stem cell research, according to a study led by researchers at Duke University Medical Center and Johns Hopkins University. The researchers published their findings online in the June 21, 2007 Science Express, the online component of the journal Science, and the study will be published in the journal's July 6, 2007 print issue.

These findings suggest that the number of embryos potentially available for stem cell research may be 10 times higher than previous estimates, resulting in a potential 100-fold increase in the number of stem cell lines -- groups of stem cells derived from a single source -- available for federally funded research.




Moreover, current federal policies do not reflect the preferences of infertility patients who have faced the very personal moral challenge of deciding what to do with their frozen embryos, according to the study.

"This has significant implications for potential policy change on stem cell research," said Anne Drapkin Lyerly, M.D., an obstetrician/ gynecologist and bioethicist at Duke and lead investigator on the study. "Previous research indicates that there are approximately 400,000 frozen embryos stored in the United States; if half of those belong to people who are willing to donate embryos for research, and only half that number were in fact donated, there could still be 100,000 embryos available for research." Earlier estimates placed the number of available embryos at about 11, 000, she said.

The researchers sent questionnaires to 2, 210 patients at nine infertility centers across the United States, asking them about their intentions for the frozen embryos they currently had stored. The study was funded by the Greenwall Foundation and the National Institutes of Health.

While 49 percent of those who responded indicated that they were likely to donate some or all of their excess embryos to research in general, the number increased to about 60 percent when the questions were more specific, asking about stem cell research in particular, and about research aimed at developing treatments for human disease or for infertility, Lyerly said.

Among those surveyed, research proved to be the most desirable option for disposition of excess embryos, according to the study; other options, including donation to another infertile couple or destruction of the embryos, were far less desirable. Infertility patients proved more likely to support donating unused embryos to research than giving them to another couple or simply destroying them, possibly because they feel a responsibility to the embryos which actually precludes allowing them to develop into children to be reared by other people, or to be destroyed without benefit, Lyerly said. People undergoing fertility treatment may end up with anywhere from one to more than 20 unused embryos at the end of the process.

Stem cells have the ability to become any type of cell present in the human body, so it may be possible to use them in the future to treat many types of diseases, from autoimmune disorders to cancer, by generating healthy cells to replace damaged ones. Embryonic stem cells are more versatile than their counterparts derived from adults or from umbilical cord blood.

Currently, federal funding for embryonic stem cell research is limited to research on stem cell lines derived from embryos before August 2001, and may not be used for any research in which an embryo is destroyed. Funding from private or state funding sources is growing, but is still insufficient, Lyerly said. President Bush has vowed to veto recent federal legislation that would loosen current limitations on stem cell research.

"For these people, research may prove to be the most acceptable and morally preferable option," she said.

Duke University Medical Center



Related Stem Cell Research News Articles Stem Cell Research News and Current Stem Cell Research Events RSS Stem Cell Research News and Current Stem Cell Research Events RSS
Cell removal technique could lead to cheaper drugs
Researchers at the University of Edinburgh have pioneered a simple way to remove dead cells from cell cultures used to make protein-based drugs, which are increasingly prescribed to treat a range of illnesses.

Adult stem cells activated in mammalian brain
Adult stem cells originate in a different part of the brain than is commonly believed, and with proper stimulation they can produce new brain cells to replace those lost to disease or injury, a study by UC Irvine scientists has shown.

Standards in stem cell research
Standards in stem cell research help both scientists and regulators to manage uncertainty and the unknown, according to new research funded by the Economic and Social Research Council.

Human embryonic stem cells developed from 4-cell embryo; world first may lessen ethical concerns
For the first time in the world scientists have succeeded in developing human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) from a single cell, or blastomere, of a 4-cell stage embryo.

Researchers link early stem cell mutation to autism
In a breakthrough scientific study published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, scientists at the Burnham Institute for Medical Research have shown that neural stem cell development may be linked to Autism.

Nerve cells derived from stem cells and transplanted into mice may lead to improved brain treatments
Scientists at the Burnham Institute for Medical Research have, for the first time, genetically programmed embryonic stem (ES) cells to become nerve cells when transplanted into the brain, according to a study published today in The Journal of Neuroscience.

Public funding impacts progress of human embryonic stem cell research
Bolstered by supportive policies and public research dollars, the United Kingdom, Israel, China, Singapore and Australia are producing unusually large shares of human embryonic stem cell research, according to a report from the Georgia Institute of Technology in the June 2008 issue Cell Stem Cell.

UCLA researchers identify leukemia stem cells
Stem cell researchers at UCLA have identified a type of leukemia stem cell and uncovered the molecular and genetic mechanisms that cause a normal blood stem cells to become cancerous.

USC stem cell study sheds new light on cell mechanism
Research from the University of Southern California (USC) has discovered a new mechanism to allow embryonic stem cells to divide indefinitely and remain undifferentiated.

Controlling embryonic fate by association
Association determines fate in embryonic stem cells, said Baylor College of Medicine researchers in a report that appears in the current issue of the journal Nature Cell Biology.
More Stem Cell Research News Articles


My Sister's Keeper: A Novel
by Jodi Picoult

New York Times bestselling author Jodi Picoult is widely acclaimed for her keen insights into the hearts and minds of real people. Now she tells the emotionally riveting story of a family torn apart by conflicting needs and a passionate love that triumphs over human weakness.Anna is not sick, but she might as well be. By age thirteen, she has undergone countless surgeries, transfusions, and shots...



Embryo: A Defense of Human Life
by Robert P. George, Christopher Tollefsen

The bitter national debates over abortion, euthanasia, and stem cell research have created an unbridgeable gap between religious groups and those who insist that faith-based views have no place in public policy. Religious conservatives are so adamantly opposed to stem cell research in particular that President Bush issued the first veto of his presidency over a bill that would have provided...



The Stem Cell Controversy: Debating the Issues (Contemporary Issue Series)

Stem cell research is headline news. Researchers are eager to move forward, state governments and private foundations are rushing to support it, and the sick and afflicted are desperate for its benefits. Yet powerful forces in our society—led by President George W. Bush—find it morally troubling and they are doing all in their powers to restrict its development beyond a very limited...



God and the Embryo

Discussions and debates over the medical use of stem cells and cloning have always had a religious component. But there are many different religious voices. This anthology on how religious perspectives can inform the difficult issues of stem cell research and human cloning is essential to the discussion. Contributors reflect the spectrum of Christian responses, from liberal Protestant to...



Fundamentals of the Stem Cell Debate: The Scientific, Religious, Ethical, and Political Issues

Few recent advances in science have generated as much excitement and controversy as human embryonic stem cells. The potential of these cells to replace diseased or damaged cells in virtually every tissue of the body heralds the advent of an extraordinary new field of medicine. Controversy arises, however, because current techniques required to harvest stem cells involve the destruction of the...



Cell of Cells: The Global Race to Capture and Control the Stem Cell
by Cynthia Fox

Positioned at the cutting edge of science, Cell of Cells charts the international race to utilize the stem cell.From a lab in the Sahara, where one problem is sand in the petri dishes, to an Israeli lab that narrowly escapes a terrorist bomb, stem cells have gone global. Not only are the cells studied in an escalating number of labs—and lands—but they are already being used. In Japan, a...



Bioethics as Practice (Studies in Social Medicine)
by Judith Andre

Those who work in bioethics and the medical humanities come from many different backgrounds, such as health care, philosophy, law, the social sciences, and religious studies. The work they do also varies widely: consulting on ethical issues in patient care, working with legislatures, dealing with the media, teaching, speaking, writing, and more. Writing as a participant in this field, Judith...



Stem Cell Century: Law and Policy for a Breakthrough Technology
by Russell Korobkin

The explosion of interest in stem cell research raises a raft of controversial policy questions. When should human embryos be used to create stem cells? Should cloning be outlawed? Should egg and tissue donors be paid? Should we allow scientists to patent stem cells? Is the government entitled to a portion of the revenue from stem cell technology created with public funds? How should the...



Umbilical Cord Stem Cell Therapy: The Gift of Healing from Healthy Newborns
by David A. Steenblock, Anthony G., Ph.D. Payne

We are standing at the threshold of a new and exciting medical era-an era of regeneration, rejuvenation, and renewal in which stems cells will set the stage for healing and in some cases, the restoration of injured, diseased, and debilitated tissues and organ. While stem cell therapy is still in its infancy, the field is rich with promise. The debate over the use of embryonic stem cells and...



The Stem Cell Divide: The Facts, the Fiction, and the Fear Driving the Greatest Scientific, Political, and Religious Debate of Our Time
by Michael Bellomo

There has been much recent debate about the merits, dangers, and nature of stem cell research. Some see in it the answer to every debilitating disease known to man, while others see it as a step away from human cloning. While the battle has raged, research is moving ahead, and California has already passed a measure that will give $3 billion in support to stem cell research. But as politics,...

© 2008 BrightSurf.com