wfn.org | UCC ethicist advises on guidelines for human cell cultivation

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@wfn.org>]

Nov. 9, 1998
Office of Communication
United Church of Christ
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United Church of Christ ethicist advises company on ethical guidelines for
human cell cultivation

     BERKELEY, Calif. -- The successful culture in the
laboratory of cells which have the potential to be developed into
any kind of human tissue has tremendous opportunities to alleviate
human suffering, says the Rev. Karen Lebacqz, a United Church
of Christ ethicist, but it also brings with it major ethical concerns.
She should know.  Lebacqz is chair of a five-member Ethics
Advisory Board convened by the Geron Corporation, the
California-based biotechnology company that financed the basic
research that has pushed the frontier of biology closer to the
central mystery of human life.
     Two university research teams have developed cell lines
derived from early embryo tissue.  These cell lines are distinctive
because they keep reproducing in the lab indefinitely.  The
scientists involved say these cells have the power to grow into one
of the human body's 210 types of cell tissue.  That could have
great application for medicine, for example, where stem cells could
be grown into tissue for human transplants.  A diseased heart
could have healthy, young heart tissue inserted into it that would
grow a new organ.
     Such medical technology to replace worn out body parts
raises some powerful moral considerations, concedes Lebacqz,
who teaches ethics at Pacific School of Religion in
Berkeley, Calif., an institution related to the United Church of
Christ.
     "Is there a time to be born and a time to die?" she
wonders, and does human cell research have the potential to upset
what many consider a gift of God?  Many faith groups, she points
out, are reluctant to tamper.
     Some religious groups and others are uneasy with any
human cell experimentation on humans.  This concern prompted
Congress in 1995 to ban Federal financing on research with fetal
cells, which is where the stem cells come from, an action Lebacqz
calls unfortunate.
     While Lebacqz labels Geron's work "fundamental
research," she and her committee have crafted a six-point code of
ethics she hopes will guide the company in its research:
     * Fundamental to any work in the field should be an
acknowledgment that the building block cells are human tissues
and should be accorded appropriate respect.
     * Second, since the stem cells are derived from a
fertilized embryo produced in the process of in-vitro fertilization,
women and couples seeking this kind of pregnancy must give full
and informed consent for the use of such cells in research and must
understand the potential market implications of such research.
     * Third, the research must not involve cloning.
     * Fourth, development of the stem cells must not violate
accepted norms for human or animal research.
     * Fifth, all such research must be done in a context of
concern for global justice.  "If we really want to alleviate human
suffering," says Lebacqz, "then the benefits must be available to
all," not just to the rich nations.
     * Finally, the Ethics Advisory Board hopes all such
research will be approved not only by an independent board like
this one but by an institutional review board as well.  "This ought
to be standard practice for anyone doing human research," says
Lebacqz.

     The United Church of Christ, with national offices in
Cleveland, has 1.4 million members and more than 6,000 local
churches in the United States and Puerto Rico.  It was formed by
the 1957 union of the Congregational Christian Churches and the
Evangelical and Reformed Church.

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