Health Law Institute, Law Centre, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2H5, Canada.
Health Care Anal. 2012 Mar;20(1):50-65. doi: 10.1007/s10728-011-0171-2.
In the US, stem cell research is at a moral impasse-many see this research as ethically mandated due to its potential for ameliorating major diseases, while others see this research as ethically impermissible because it typically involves the destruction of embryos and use of ova from women. Because their creation does not require embryos or ova, induced pluripotent stem cells offer the most promising path for addressing the main ethical objections to stem cell research; however, this technology is still in development. In order for scientists to advance induced pluripotent stem cell research to a point of translational readiness, they must continue to use ova and embryos in the interim. How then are we to ethically move forward with stem cell research? We argue that there is personal integrity and value in adopting a 'moral compromise' as a means for moving past the moral impasse in stem cell research. In a moral compromise, each party concedes part of their desired outcome in order to engage in a process that respects the values and desires of all parties equitably. Whereas some contend that moral compromise in stem cell research necessarily involves self-contradiction or loss of personal integrity, we argue that in the US context, stem cell research satisfies many of the key pre-conditions of an effective moral compromise. To illustrate our point, we offer a model solution wherein eggs and embryos are temporarily used until non-egg and non-embryonic sources of pluripotent stem cells are developed to a state of translational readiness.
在美国，干细胞研究陷入了道德困境——许多人认为这项研究具有改善重大疾病的潜力，因此在道德上是必须进行的，而另一些人则认为这项研究在道德上是不允许的，因为它通常涉及胚胎的破坏和女性卵子的使用。由于它们的产生不需要胚胎或卵子，诱导多能干细胞为解决干细胞研究的主要伦理问题提供了最有希望的途径；然而，这项技术仍在开发中。为了使科学家能够将诱导多能干细胞研究推进到可转化的准备阶段，他们必须在这期间继续使用卵子和胚胎。那么，我们应该如何在道德上推进干细胞研究呢？我们认为，采取“道德妥协”作为克服干细胞研究道德困境的一种手段，具有个人诚信和价值。在道德妥协中，每一方都在一定程度上放弃了他们所期望的结果，以便参与一个公平尊重所有各方的价值观和愿望的过程。虽然有些人认为在干细胞研究中，道德妥协必然涉及自相矛盾或个人诚信的丧失，但我们认为，在美国的背景下，干细胞研究满足了有效道德妥协的许多关键前提条件。为了说明我们的观点，我们提出了一个模型解决方案，其中暂时使用卵子和胚胎，直到非卵子和非胚胎来源的多能干细胞发展到可转化的准备状态。
