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The Ethics of Stem Cell Research
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Stem Cell research is a focus for hope, activity, discussion and controversy throughout the world. One critical area of discussion centers on ethical and legal considerations surrounding human embryonic stem cell research. The two articles that follow explore that topic from somewhat different perspectives.
Written by Patrick Taylor, Associate General Counsel at Children's Hospital Boston, the first article, Closing the Ethics Gap explores key ethical and legal issues related to stem cell research as it is conducted in U.S. research institutions. A previous version of this paper was presented at the February 23-25, 2005, American Bar Association Conference on Emerging Issues in Health Law. A later version was first published by the American Bar Association in The Health Lawyer,2005; 17(2):1-11.
The second article, A Personal View, examines what it's like to work in the field. The author, Dr. M. William Lensch, is a post-doctoral fellow working with George Daley, Associate Director of the Stem Cell Program at Children's Hospital. Dr. Lensch received his Ph.D. in Molecular and Medical Genetics from Oregon Health Sciences University for studies of childhood and adult leukemia with an emphasis on the cancer predisposition syndrome Fanconi anemia. Post-doctoral work with George Q. Daley at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research (MIT) led to his current position in the Division of Hematology/Oncology, Children's Hospital Boston and the Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology at the Harvard Medical School. Lensch's current research revolves around the use of human embryonic stem cells as platforms for understanding genetics, development, and diseases of the blood-forming system. He is the recipient of a Harvard Stem Cell Institute Seed Grant.
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