Stem Cell Regulations
The debate behind the ethical utilization and development of stem cell techniques and treatments has long gone on in many countries, with many governments establishing strict guidelines relating to the harvesting and exploration of stem cell treatments in many aspects. In 2001 in the United States, for instance, most exploration into totipotent and pluripotent stem cells was initially banned due to the reliance on that time of utilizing embryo cells for developing viable lines, however in 2007 a presidential order was issued allowing for the expansion of stem cell therapies and the harvesting of pluripotent stem cells to be overseen by the Secretary of Health and Human Services that would not endanger a developing human embryo in any way.
These regulations have prevented many researchers from exploring many different techniques that may endanger human life though at the same time have also allowed for further focus on the development of adult stem cell lines that can be harvested directly from mature adults and used for various medical purposes.
From a global perspective regulations are not universal, however, and some countries have been able to explore various approaches utilizing both pluripotent and totipotent stem cells derived from developing human embryos in a number of ways. China, for instance, has allowed for a more flexible approach to stem cell research, and as a result has developed a number of nerve growth techniques that have been used to successfully treat a number of patients suffering nerve damage in the past few years.
The danger with many of these techniques being explored and developed in various countries around the world lies in the actual ability for many of these derived treatments to be carried over from country to country. Any treatment developed in a country with more lax regulations, for instance, may actually be outlawed in other countries with stricter medical practices preventing any exploitation of methods that may endanger developing human fetal development.
It is anticipated that, in the coming years, as new techniques for harvesting and establishing viable stem cell lines are discovered regulations may become more lax in many ways, however at the same time many people may be afraid to explore some techniques on an ethical basis that may rely upon developing human embryos in any way for viability. While at this time a number of harvesting methods do exist that can extract viable stem cells from both developing gametes and more differentiated bodies at various stages many people are concerned as well about the long-term implications these harvesting techniques may have on human development given the relative newness of these techniques and limited ability to study the long-term effects these may have upon the bodies of both developing human beings as well as patients receiving treatment.
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