Study: Donated embryos could result in more than 2,000 new embryonic stem cell linesJune 21, 2007Up to 60 percent of fertility clinic patients willing to donate remaining embryos to stem cell research Baltimore - In a survey of more than one thousand infertility patients with frozen embryos, 60 percent of patients report that they are likely to donate their embryos to stem cell research, a level of donation that could result in roughly 2000 to 3000 new embryonic stem cell lines. Researchers from Duke University and Johns Hopkins University report the startling findings in the July 6, 2007 issue of Science. In August of 2001, less than two dozen embryonic stem cell lines were made eligible for federal research funding. Most scientists now agree that the eligible lines have proven inadequate in number and unsafe for transnational research. Until recently, the best estimate of human embryos currently in storage that might be available for additional stem cell research was three percent. The 2003 study showed that donations would yield, at best, less than 300 new lines. "Until now, the debate about federal funding for embryonic stem cell research has been dominated by lawmakers and advocates. But what about the preferences of infertility patients, who are ethically responsible for, and have legal authority over, these embryos"" asked Ruth Faden, director of the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics and one of the study's two co-authors. "These patients face the often morally difficult task of deciding what to do with their remaining cryopreserved embryos. In the end, it is these people who determine whether embryos are available for adoption or for medical research." The 1,020 couples responding to the survey currently control the disposition of between 3,900 to 5,900 embryos. Nearly half of the respondents (49 percent) indicated they were somewhat or very likely to donate their frozen embryos to medical research. When asked about stem cell research in particular, this percentage increased to 60 percent. "Our data suggest that the way many infertility patients resolve the very personal moral challenge of what to do with their embryos is consonant with the conclusions of the majority of Americans who support embryonic stem cell research," said Anne Lyerly, M.D., Associate Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Duke University and co-author of the study. "Many infertility patients see donating their remaining embryos for medical research as preferable to simply discarding them or even to donating to another infertile couple for adoption." Infertility patients in the Lyerly and Faden study said they were more likely to donate their embryos to scientists for stem cell research (60 percent) than to other couples for adoption (22 percent of respondents). Embryos are currently frozen in fertility clinics because more were created than could safely be returned to a woman's uterus at the time of fertilization or in order to increase the chances of pregnancy from a single cycle of in-vitro fertilization. Johns Hopkins University |
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| Related Embryos Current Events and Embryos News Articles DNA barcodes: Creative new uses span health, fraud, smuggling, history, more The scientific ability to quickly and accurately identify species through DNA "barcoding" is being embraced and applied by a growing legion of global authorities - from medical and agricultural researchers to police and customs authorities to palaeontologists and others. Tiny injector to speed development of new, safer, cheaper drugs It's no bigger than a stamp packet but it has the potential to allow rapid development of a new generation of drugs and genetic engineering organisms, and to better control in-vitro fertilization. Of mice and men: Stem cells and ethical uncertainties The recent creation of live mice from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) not only represents a remarkable scientific achievement, but also raises important issues, according to bioethicists at The Johns Hopkins University's Berman Institute of Bioethics. The skeleton: Size matters Vertebrates have in common a skeleton made of segments, the vertebrae. During development of the embryo, each segment is added in a time dependent manner, from the head-end to the tail-end: the first segments to be added become the vertebrae of the neck, later segments become the vertebrae with ribs and the last ones the vertebra located in the tail (in the case of a mouse, for example). Endocrine Society calls for expanded scope and funding for stem cell research Stem cell research holds great promise for the treatment of millions of Americans with debilitating and possibly fatal diseases. Researchers discover mechanism that prevents two species from reproducing Cornell researchers have discovered a genetic mechanism in fruit flies that prevents two closely related species from reproducing, a finding that offers clues to how species evolve. IVF insurance coverage yields fewer multiple births, Yale researchers find The proportion of in vitro fertilization (IVF) multiple births was lower in the eight states that provide insurance coverage for couples seeking IVF treatment, primarily due to fewer embryos transferred per cycle. Identifying the metabolism of a healthy embryo could improve infertility treatment Embryos that are most likely to result in a pregnancy are crucial to the success of in vitro fertilization (IVF) but are difficult to identify. Researchers at Yale School of Medicine, led by Emre Seli, M.D., are developing a fast, non-invasive test to help assess embryo viability for IVF. Small mechanical forces have big impact on embryonic stem cells Applying a small mechanical force to embryonic stem cells could be a new way of coaxing them into a specific direction of differentiation, researchers at the University of Illinois report. Applications for force-directed cell differentiation include therapeutic cloning and regenerative medicine. Cell death occurs in the same way in plants, animals and humans Research has previously assumed that animals and plants developed different genetic programs for cell death. More Embryos Current Events and Embryos News Articles |
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