US academy calls for new bodies to oversee stem cell research
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《英国医生杂志》
The US National Academy of Sciences has published guidelines to advance the science of stem cell research "in a responsible manner."
The report calls for each US institution conducting stem cell research to establish a committee on embryonic stem cell research that would oversee all the issues relating to the derivation and use of stem cell lines. Such heightened oversight is essential, the report says, to assure the public that research is being ethically conducted.
The academy decided to publish its own report because the US government has not taken any steps to regulate such research. Although federal funds cannot be used for such research, the amount of stem cell research funded by private sources is increasing.
The stem cell research oversight committees would not replace the institutional review boards that approve medical research in general but would provide "an additional level of review and scrutiny warranted by the complex issues raised by human stem cell research."
The report points out that studies, clinical practice, and public policy concerning stem cell research are in a state of flux and are likely to be so for several years. It also predicts that more groups will become involved in stem cell research. Therefore, it also recommends that a national body be established to review the policies and guidelines in the light of changes in the science and the emergence of new issues of public interest, as well as to provide a formal context in which the complex moral and oversight questions can be addressed. This body would not review or approve specific research protocols, which would be done at the local institutional level.
The academy's report comes at an opportune time. A number of states have been taking steps to encourage and support stem cell research and are developing their own guidelines under which research would be funded and conducted.
The authors of the report say they hope their guidelines will "enhance the integrity of human embryonic stem cell research both in the public's perception and in actuality by encouraging responsible practices in the conduct of that research."(Charles Marwick)
The report calls for each US institution conducting stem cell research to establish a committee on embryonic stem cell research that would oversee all the issues relating to the derivation and use of stem cell lines. Such heightened oversight is essential, the report says, to assure the public that research is being ethically conducted.
The academy decided to publish its own report because the US government has not taken any steps to regulate such research. Although federal funds cannot be used for such research, the amount of stem cell research funded by private sources is increasing.
The stem cell research oversight committees would not replace the institutional review boards that approve medical research in general but would provide "an additional level of review and scrutiny warranted by the complex issues raised by human stem cell research."
The report points out that studies, clinical practice, and public policy concerning stem cell research are in a state of flux and are likely to be so for several years. It also predicts that more groups will become involved in stem cell research. Therefore, it also recommends that a national body be established to review the policies and guidelines in the light of changes in the science and the emergence of new issues of public interest, as well as to provide a formal context in which the complex moral and oversight questions can be addressed. This body would not review or approve specific research protocols, which would be done at the local institutional level.
The academy's report comes at an opportune time. A number of states have been taking steps to encourage and support stem cell research and are developing their own guidelines under which research would be funded and conducted.
The authors of the report say they hope their guidelines will "enhance the integrity of human embryonic stem cell research both in the public's perception and in actuality by encouraging responsible practices in the conduct of that research."(Charles Marwick)