Volume 4, Issue 3

Not only the Korean “stem cell scandal” showed that particularly sensitive questions are connected to oocyte donation: A couple of months ago, the British Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority has decided that women will be allowed to donate their egg cells to research, both as an altruistic donor or in conjunction with their own IVF treatment; given that the medical risks of donating for research purposes are no higher than for treatment, it should be the woman's choice of how her donated eggs should be used. In addition to that, as Benjamin Capps and Alistair V. Campbell point out, various jurisdictions are considering whether it is ethically appropriate to obtain oocytes from living human donors on the grounds of ‘public interest’. In their paper, the authors discuss the ethical issues concerning the proposed solution of offering either payment, reimbursement or compensation for the “vending”, “donation” or “gift” of oocytes from human living donors.

Introduction In 2006, investigations into alleged scientific fraud by the South Korean stem cell scientist, Woo Suk Hwang, revealed that there were, among other concerns, contentious circumstances surrounding procurement of oocytes for research. Specifically, in the attempt to be the first to successfully clone a human embryo, Hwang had obtained oocytes from paid donors and junior members of his own research team, and he had lied about the conditions under which the oocytes had been obtained. This controversy emphasised the ethical concerns surrounding the degree to which incentives may be a part in the procurement of oocytes. While this apparently isolated incident was alleged by some to be a result of economic and political influences upon scientific independence and integrity, the case for inducements or incentives for consensual donation of cells, tissues and organs from healthy ‘donors’ remains a challenging ethical problem, and is exemplified by two opposing arguments. On the one hand, the donation, gifting or selling of body parts is seen as an expression of personal autonomy, reflecting ownership and control of the body. On the other hand, such practices may encourage a dangerous attitude towards the commodification of the body, and therefore merely result in the creation of an exploitative and uncontrollable market in human body parts.

This paper presents the results of public opinion research conducted in Japan on the willingness of persons to contribute their DNA to a genetic database, and the reasons behind their choices. The results are discussed in light of the Act Concerning Protection of Personal Information issued in 2003, and with reference to genetic database projects that have been conducted in Japan. There appears to be increasing concerns about privacy in Japan, despite a high level of support for science and technology. While 44% said they would agree to blood donation for a DNA bank, 28% were negative to donate, and another 28% answered they “don't know”. The reasons behind these choices and the concepts of storage of genetic databases are partially reflected in the guidelines applied to collection of genetic databases, but greater and more independent community engagement will be important to increase public involvement in large scale genetics projects in Japan.

Introduction The Spanish legislation on new technologies and their application to human reproduction and research has been significantly modified during the last few years. Spain is nowadays one of the most advanced and permissive European countries on human transplants, assisted human reproduction and embryo research.

Scientific and Technical Background Introduction The potential of nano-technologies raises great hopes. Far-reaching claims are made by both opponents and proponents. The first difficulty in describing the state of the art accurately is to distinguish between science and science fiction, i.e. between the state of the art today, what may be around the corner tomorrow and what remains highly speculative. The ethical issues raised at these stages are not necessarily the same.

China's Biotechnology Industry China's biotech growth began in the 1980's with the establishment of the National Center for Biotechnology Development, later to be called the Ministry of Science and Technology, and the initiation of the 863 programme to provide funding to sciences including biotechnology.

Surgical emergencies raise three moral issues First, there is the profound trust that vulnerable patients feel toward their surgeon especially in emergency situation. The patient expects the surgeon to be his advocate for optimal care, not an advocate for some minimalist standard. He expect also that the surgeon will remain the conservative guardian given to using traditional techniques that have been validated by years of experience as well as the leader of a team which constitutes a moral community with strong implicit standards to take care of him and to protect him from danger, including dangerous therapeutic innovations or clinical short-cuts.