Beca I Juan Pablo
Centro de Bioética, Facultad de Medicina, Clínica Alemana-Universidad del Desarrollo, Santiago, Chile.
Rev Med Chil. 2007 Nov;135(11):1367-9. Epub 2008 Jan 16.
The HFEA (Human Fertilisations & Embryology Authority) recently accepted to perform research in hybrid embryos generated by transferring human somatic cell nucleus to cow enucleated oocytes, named cytoplasmatic hybrids. The aim is to obtain a source of embryonic stem cells without the use of human oocytes. The arguments for the approval are to avoid the risk of obtaining human oocytes and that these embryos will not be transferred to a female's womb for its development. Those who oppose the technique argue that it is a manipulation of the beginning of life and a disrespect to the dignity of human life because of the destruction of embryos. Nevertheless, the real nature of this new entity has not been established. Biologically it is an embryo with 99% of human genome and animal's cytoplasm, not generated from human gametes, it is not a new genome and it will be used only to cultivate stem cells. It does not seem possible to define its nature beyond any doubts. If it were considered as a human embryo it should be respected and protected as every human being. Once more, scientific progress opens new ethical and legal questions that we cannot answer in a definitive way. Researchers are exploring new roads to obtain pluripotential stem cells which should favor the development of innovative therapies. The main objection is the unavoidable destruction of human embryos, although in this case its origin and nature are not clear.
人类受精与胚胎学管理局（HFEA）最近同意对通过将人类体细胞核转移到去核牛卵母细胞中产生的杂交胚胎进行研究，这种胚胎被称为细胞质杂交胚胎。目的是在不使用人类卵母细胞的情况下获得胚胎干细胞来源。批准这项研究的理由是避免获取人类卵母细胞的风险，并且这些胚胎不会被移植到女性子宫中发育。反对这项技术的人认为，这是对生命起点的操控，并且由于胚胎的破坏，是对人类生命尊严的不尊重。然而，这个新实体的真实性质尚未确定。从生物学角度来看，它是一个拥有99%人类基因组和动物细胞质的胚胎，并非由人类配子产生，它不是一个新的基因组，并且仅用于培养干细胞。似乎无法毫无疑问地定义其性质。如果将其视为人类胚胎，那么就应该像对待每个人类个体一样尊重和保护它。科学进步再次引发了新的伦理和法律问题，而我们无法给出明确的答案。研究人员正在探索获取多能干细胞的新途径，这应该有助于创新疗法的发展。主要的反对意见是不可避免地会破坏人类胚胎，尽管在这种情况下其起源和性质并不明确。
