Faculty of Life and Social Sciences, Swinburne University of Technology, P.O. Box 218, Mail number: H31, Hawthorn, Victoria, 3123, Australia,
Stem Cell Rev Rep. 2013 Oct;9(5):541-54. doi: 10.1007/s12015-013-9445-4.
The development of pluripotent cells that enable stem cell research (SCR) without destroying human embryos is now a leading priority for science. Public and political controversies associated with human embryonic SCR experienced in the recent past should be alleviated if scientists no longer need to harvest cells from human embryos. This research suggests however additional issues needing attention in order to gain the public's trust and support: the use of mouse embryos and the commercialisation of research. Using a representative sample of 2,800 Australians, and an experimental telephone survey design, this research compared levels and predictors of public support for stem cell research across three cell source conditions: human embryo (HE), mouse embryo (ME) and induced pluripotent cells (iPSCs). The results revealed that the public were significantly more likely to support research using iPSCs than HE and ME cells and public compared to private research (regardless of the cell source). There was no significant difference in support for HE compared to ME research, but the former was viewed as more likely to lead to accessible health care benefits and to be associated with more trustworthy scientists. The results of a multimediation structural equation model showed that the primary reason support for SCR significantly dropped in a private compared to public context (i.e., the commercialisation effect) was because public scientists were trusted more than private scientists. This effect was consistent across all three SCR materials, suggesting that the use of mouse embryos or even iPSCs will not reduce the publics' concern with commercialised science. The implications these results have for public acceptance of stem cell and animal research are discussed in relation to possible solutions such as increasing public awareness of the regulation of animal research and benefit sharing.
诱导多能干细胞的发展使得无需破坏人类胚胎即可进行干细胞研究，这是目前科学界的首要任务。如果科学家不再需要从人类胚胎中提取细胞，那么最近科学界在人类胚胎干细胞研究方面所引发的公共和政治争议应该会得到缓解。然而，为了获得公众的信任和支持，还需要注意其他一些问题：使用小鼠胚胎和研究的商业化。本研究使用了 2800 名澳大利亚人的代表性样本，并采用实验性电话调查设计，比较了在三种细胞来源条件下（人类胚胎、小鼠胚胎和诱导多能干细胞），公众对干细胞研究的支持程度和预测因素：人类胚胎（HE）、小鼠胚胎（ME）和诱导多能干细胞（iPSCs）。结果表明，公众更有可能支持使用 iPSCs 进行研究，而不是使用 HE 和 ME 细胞进行研究，并且公众比私人研究更支持（无论细胞来源如何）。公众对 HE 研究的支持率与 ME 研究相比没有显著差异，但前者更有可能带来可获得的医疗保健益处，并与更值得信赖的科学家相关联。多中介结构方程模型的结果表明，与公共环境相比，私人环境下支持 SCR 的显著下降（即商业化效应）的主要原因是公众科学家比私人科学家更值得信任。这一效应在所有三种 SCR 材料中都是一致的，这表明使用小鼠胚胎甚至 iPSCs 都不会降低公众对商业化科学的担忧。这些结果对公众接受干细胞和动物研究的影响，以及可能的解决方案，如提高公众对动物研究监管和利益分享的认识，进行了讨论。
