Public Attitudes toward Human-Animal Chimera Research May Be More Complicated than They Appear

Bolo, Isabel; Wills, Ben Curran; Maschke, Karen J.

doi:10.1016/j.stemcr.2021.01.002

Cited by 2 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 2 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…A previous study by our group attempted to fill this gap by asking about public perceptions of HAC research in the United States 61 . Our study population, which was recruited online, was skewed toward younger individuals and to higher education levels 74 ; however, our findings were as follows. Following a brief explanation of the concept of blastocyst complementation and how functional organs could be developed, we asked 430 individuals in the United States various questions to assess their support for or against chimera research, as well as demographic information to identify subpopulations that may be more accepting of, or resistant to, chimera research.…”

Section: Public Attitudes Toward Creating Hacs For Generating Exogeni...mentioning

confidence: 86%

A Technological and Regulatory Review on Human–Animal Chimera Research: The Current Landscape of Biology, Law, and Public Opinion

Brown,

Voth,

Person

et al. 2023

Cell Transplant

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Organ transplantation is a highly utilized treatment for many medical conditions, yet the number of patients waiting for organs far exceeds the number available. The challenges and limitations currently associated with organ transplantation and technological advances in gene editing techniques have led scientists to pursue alternate solutions to the donor organ shortage. Growing human organs in animals and harvesting those organs for transplantation into humans is one such solution. These chimeric animals usually have certain genes necessary for a specific organ’s development inhibited at an early developmental stage, followed by the addition of cultured pluripotent human cells to fill that developmental niche. The result is a chimeric animal that contains human organs which are available for transplant into a patient, circumventing some of the limitations currently involved in donor organ transplantation. In this review, we will discuss both the current scientific and legal landscape of human–animal chimera (HAC) research. We present an overview of the technological advances that allow for the creation of HACs, the patents that currently exist on these methods, as well as current public attitude and understanding that can influence HAC research policy. We complement our scientific and public attitude discussion with a regulatory overview of chimera research at both the national and state level, while also contrasting current U.S. legislation with regulations in other countries. Overall, we provide a comprehensive analysis of the legal and scientific barriers to conducting research on HACs for the generation of transplantable human organs, as well as provide recommendations for the future.

show abstract

Section: Public Attitudes Toward Creating Hacs For Generating Exogeni...mentioning

confidence: 86%

A Technological and Regulatory Review on Human–Animal Chimera Research: The Current Landscape of Biology, Law, and Public Opinion

Brown,

Voth,

Person

et al. 2023

Cell Transplant

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Common themes in the comments included that chimeric research violates religious commitments or beliefs about the use of human embryos and human embryonic stem cells, violates the moral status of human embryos, and degrades the moral standing of humans vis-a-vis their relationship to nonhuman animals and to themselves as humans. 12 Many of the letters used verbatim or near-verbatim language, contending that chimeric research inappropriately and unnecessarily harms nonhuman animals, violates species boundaries, and involves inappropriate use of public money. In addition, some comments assert that the proposed policy was the wrong way to address the concerns that people have about this type of research.…”

Section: Box 4 Intersecting Governance Of Chimeric Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the United States, the most influential of these guidelines are those of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, first issued in 2005 9 and last updated in 2010, 10 and of an international scientific society called the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR), first issued in 2006 11 and last updated in 2021. 12 In 2021, the NASEM Committee on Science, Technology, and Law issued a report that includes the committee's consensus findings about the science, ethics, and governance of human neural organoids, transplants, and chimeras. 13 In addition, funders of research have sometimes developed policies touching on chimeric studies.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Clarifying the Ethics and Oversight of Chimeric Research

Johnston¹,

Hyun²,

Neuhaus³

et al. 2022

Hastings Center Report

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This article is the lead piece in a special report that presents the results of a bioethical investigation into chimeric research, which involves the insertion of human cells into nonhuman animals and nonhuman animal embryos, including into their brains. Rapid scientific developments in this field may advance knowledge and could lead to new therapies for humans. They also reveal the conceptual, ethical, and procedural limitations of existing ethics guidance for human‐nonhuman chimeric research. Led by bioethics researchers working closely with an interdisciplinary work group, the investigation focused on generating conceptual clarity and identifying improvements to governance approaches, with the goal of helping scholars, funders, scientists, institutional leaders, and oversight bodies (embryonic stem cell research oversight [ESCRO] committees and institutional animal care and use committees [IACUCs]) deliver principled and trustworthy oversight of this area of science. The article, which focuses on human‐nonhuman animal chimeric research that is stem cell based, identifies key ethical issues in and offers ten recommendations regarding the ethics and oversight of this research. Turning from bioethics’ previous focus on human‐centered questions about the ethics of “humanization” and this research's potential impact on concepts like human dignity, this article emphasizes the importance of nonhuman animal welfare concerns in chimeric research and argues for less‐siloed governance and oversight and more‐comprehensive public communication.

show abstract

Public Attitudes toward Human-Animal Chimera Research May Be More Complicated than They Appear

Cited by 2 publications

References 2 publications

A Technological and Regulatory Review on Human–Animal Chimera Research: The Current Landscape of Biology, Law, and Public Opinion

A Technological and Regulatory Review on Human–Animal Chimera Research: The Current Landscape of Biology, Law, and Public Opinion

Clarifying the Ethics and Oversight of Chimeric Research

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About