Page 75 - Ethical Guidelines for Conducting Research Studies Involving Human Subjects

HESCs are complicit in the destruction of embryos, whether there is a
moral distinction between creating embryos for research purposes and
creating them for reproductive ends, the permissibility of cloning human
embryos to harvest HESCs, and the ethics of creating human/non-human
chimeras.

13.9.1 Guidelines for Human Pluripotent Stem Cell Research

The types of research that conform to the Guidelines
include:

• Research to derive or study human embryonic stem
(ES) cell lines or other cell lines of a pluripotent
nature from human embryos provided that:

The embryos used, whether fresh or frozen were originally created
for reproductive purposes and are no longer required for such
purposes.

There was free and informed consent from the persons for whom
the embryos were originally created for reproductive
purposes. Where third party donor gametes were used to create the
embryo, the third party gamete donor(s) must have given at the
time of donation free and informed consent to the unrestricted
research use of any embryos created, when these embryos are no
longer required for reproductive purposes.

The ova and the sperm from which the embryos were not created,
nor the embryos themselves, were obtained through commercial
transactions, i.e., were acquired by payment of money in excess of
costs actually incurred or in exchange for healthcare services.
• Research to derive or study human embryonic germ
cell (EG) lines or other cell lines of a pluripotent nature
from human fetal tissue or amniotic fluid, provided that:

The proposed research does not compromise the pregnant woman's
decision on whether to continue her pregnancy. To ensure that such
compromise does not occur, the stem cell researcher shall provide
BMRC with satisfactory evidence that the pregnant woman's
decision to discontinue the pregnancy was made prior to any
request made to her to participate in the research.

There was free and informed consent from the pregnant woman for
the use of her fetal tissue in research.

• Research to derive and study human stem cell lines of
a pluripotent nature from the umbilical cord and placenta
provided that:
There was free and informed consent from the both parents of the
newborn. If there is disagreement between the parents, the
umbilical cord and placenta cannot be used for research.

BMRC ETHICAL GUIDELINE ON HUMAN SUBJECTS Page 71