title: Broadening the scope of debates around stem cell research.
abstract: Over the last decade, stem cell research has generated an enormous amount of public, political and bioethical debate. These debates have overwhelmingly tended to focus on two moral issues: the moral status of human embryos and the duty to care for the sick and vulnerable. This preoccupation, especially on the question of moral status, has not only dichotomized the debate around two fundamentally incommensurable positions, it has come at the cost of other important issues largely being ignored. In highlighting some of the bioethical and regulatory deficiencies of this fixation, we draw on recent developments in the experimental use of autologous adult stem cells to argue for a more inclusive approach to the ethical issues surrounding stem cell research.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Biomedical Ethics, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore 119228. tamra.lysaght@nuhs.edu.sg
authors.forename: Tamra
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lysaght
authors.forename: Alastair V
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Campbell
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D053687:Adult Stem Cells; D006801:Humans; D011640:Public Policy; D044968:Regenerative Medicine / Q000941:ethics; D057905:Stem Cell Research / Q000941:ethics* / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D033581:Stem Cell Transplantation / Q000941:ethics* / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D014182:Transplantation, Autologous; D014481:United States