National, European and international concepts and strategies concerning the legal and ethical framework of chimera and hybrid research are still largely missing, even though they are absolutely necessary in order to use the potential of chimera and hybrid research effectively and efficiently for the benefit of science and society. The outcome of the CHIMBRIDS-Project successfully sheds light on the chances and risks of this research and provides legal solutions to existing problems in order to help decision-makers fulfil their tasks in an informed and efficient manner. This comprehensive volume details the complete results, contributed by 40 scholars from 10 member states of the European Union, Canada, China, Israel, Japan, Switzerland and the US, with descriptive reports of the legal situation in specific countries and in-depth analysis of all scientific, medical, ethical and legal implications of chimera and hybrid research.

National, European and international concepts and strategies concerning the legal and ethical framework of chimera and hybrid research are still largely missing, even though they are absolutely necessary in order to use the potential of chimera and hybrid research effectively and efficiently for the benefit of science and society. The outcome of the CHIMBRIDS-Project successfully sheds light on the chances and risks of this research and provides legal solutions to existing problems in order to help decision-makers fulfil their tasks in an informed and efficient manner. This comprehensive volume details the complete results, contributed by 40 scholars from 10 member states of the European Union, Canada, China, Israel, Japan, Switzerland and the US, with descriptive reports of the legal situation in specific countries and in-depth analysis of all scientific, medical, ethical and legal implications of chimera and hybrid research.

This book represents the coming together of a number of internationally renowned scholars from science, philosophy, law and social science. Each author presents a distinctive and critical account of the current ethical, social and jurisprudential issues concerning stem cell science: together covering both its research beginnings, and the future translation into the clinical setting. Original to this volume is an emphasis on the inter-state implications of developments in stem cell science from the perspective of a truly global collaboration of leading authors. Academics and policy-makers will find it an invaluable contribution to the socio-political and ethical discourse of stem cell science./a

For many years, the ethical discussion surrounding human embryonic stem cell research has focused on the moral status of the embryo. This text takes a wider moral berth and focuses on numerous ethical, legal and social aspects involved in translating the results of stem cell research into diagnostic and therapeutic applications. Translational Stem Cell Research is broken into ten sections. It opens with an overview of the latest in stem cell research, focusing on specific diseases and the treatment of burn victims. Part II discusses the issues involved in the many steps from bench to bedside, ranging from first research in vitro to clinical trials. Part III covers scientific, regulatory and ethical challenges to basic research, and Part IV details issues regarding stem cell banks. Part V explores ethical, economic and strategic issues involved in collaboration between universities and industry, and Part VI addresses legal problems raised by patents on human stem-cell based inventions plus the extent to which there can be technological solutions to a moral dilemma. Part VII presents imaginative ways of communicating research to the general public and how to create conditions for a constructive dialogue. Part VIII probes psychosocial and cultural factors affecting judgment and decisions about translational stem cell research, and Part IX explores problems and procedures raised by an examination of the evaluation of stem cell research projects in research ethics committees. The book closes with a look into the future of translational stem cell research and stem cell-based therapeutic applications.

What is the state of current European governance on new and emerging technologies, and where is it going? What is, and what can be, the role of human rights in governance arrangements? These are the main questions that this book answers for both European and non-European scholars. It provides a wide picture of current European governance, notably in biotechnology, nanotechnology and synthetic biology, and discusses the model of Responsible Research and Innovation, which is gaining popularity within the European Union, under a human rights perspective. It shows how human rights can contribute to governance frameworks without posing obstacles to research and innovation. The theory presented in the book is followed by practical guidelines drawn from human rights law. Starting from the Strasbourg Court jurisprudence, it provides a complete review of the wide range of rights that the European Convention on Human Rights protects in light of the challenges of techno-scientific advances. This analysis will come in handy for private actors, policymakers, regulators, as well as judges in solving hard cases raised by techno-scientific progress in the future.

The idea of human-nonhuman combinations has been a recurrent theme throughout the history of humanity. From the myths of the Minotaur and the centaurs in ancient Greece to the dogheads of the Middle Ages right through to the monsters of modern science fiction, these beings have always been a source of fascination. In recent years, however, biomedical advances have demonstrated the potential to make these entities a reality through the creation of inter-species combinations. As a result, pressing and perplexing ethical questions arise. Introducing the reader to the historical context of human-nonhuman experimentation and potential future developments, this volume offers clarification, analysis and a thorough overview of the ethical challenges relating to human-nonhuman chimeras, true hybrids, cybrids and other combinations. This book is the first accessible survey of the different ethical dilemmas facing contemporary society in the creation of human-nonhuman embryonic, foetal and postnatal entities. These include important cultural, legal, philosophical and religious perspectives. As such it will act as a springboard for future debate.

What is 'legal' about bioethics? What are the ideas and artefacts that bioethics encompasses, and how are they related to law? What is the role of law in bioethics? In this work, Calvin Ho attempts to address these questions in the context of the governance of human pluripotent stem cell research. In essence, he argues that the hybridization of law, through processes, devices and techniques of juridification, has helped to constitute bioethics as a public sphere and an emergent civic epistemology. Drawing on his multi-sited ethnographic fieldwork and on Actor-Network-Theory, Ho explains how the law has, through bioethics, contributed to the scientific and public understanding of human pluripotent stem cell research and its artefacts, particularly the embryo and human-animal combinations. Although the focus of his work is on bioethical developments in Singapore over a period of more than 15 years, parallel developments in key jurisdictions (especially the United States of America and the United Kingdom) and in international science policy are also evaluated. It is through appreciating how it has progressed that bioethics will be better able to engage with future challenges presented by advances in human embryo research and gene editing techniques, among others.