Public stem cell banks: considerations of justice in stem cell research and therapy

Faden, Ruth R; Dawson, Liza; Bateman-House, Alison S; Agnew, Dawn Mueller; Bok, Hilary; Brock, Dan W; Chakravarti, Aravinda; Gao, Xiao-Jiang; Greene, Mark; Hansen, John A; King, Patricia A; O'Brien, Stephen J; Sachs, David H; Schill, Kathryn E; Siegel, Andrew; Solter, Davor; Suter, Sonia M; Verfaillie, Catherine; Walters, LeRoy B; Gearhart, John D

doi:10.2307/3527822

Public stem cell banks: considerations of justice in stem cell research and therapy

Author:

Faden, Ruth R

Dawson, Liza ; Bateman-House, Alison S ; Agnew, Dawn Mueller ; Bok, Hilary ; Brock, Dan W ; Chakravarti, Aravinda ; Gao, Xiao-Jiang ; Greene, Mark ; Hansen, John A ; King, Patricia A ; O'Brien, Stephen J ; Sachs, David H ; Schill, Kathryn E ; Siegel, Andrew ; Solter, Davor ; Suter, Sonia M ; Verfaillie, Catherine ; Walters, LeRoy B ; Gearhart, John D

Keywords:

Embryo Research, Ethnic Groups, Graft Rejection, HLA Antigens, Haplotypes, Health Services Accessibility, Humans, Public Policy, Social Justice, Stem Cell Transplantation, Stem Cells, Tissue Banks, Transplantation, Autologous, Transplantation, Heterologous, Social Sciences, Science & Technology, Life Sciences & Biomedicine, Ethics, Health Care Sciences & Services, Medical Ethics, Social Sciences, Biomedical, Social Sciences - Other Topics, Biomedical Social Sciences, TRANSPLANTATION TOLERANCE, UNRELATED MARROW, MIXED CHIMERISM, HLA-A, DIVERSITY, PROBABILITY, DONORS, PLURIPOTENCY, POLYMORPHISM, RECIPIENTS, Analytical Approach, Biomedical and Behavioral Research, Genetics and Reproduction, Ethnicity, 2201 Applied Ethics, 2203 Philosophy, Applied Ethics, 5001 Applied ethics

Abstract:

If stem cells fulfill their therapeutic promise, moving them from the laboratory into the clinic will raise several concerns about justice. One concern is that, for biological reasons alone, stem cell-based therapies might not be available for every patient who needs one. Worse, depending on how we address the problem of biological access, they might benefit primarily white Americans. We can avoid this outcome - although at a cost - by carefully selecting the stem cells we make available.