Time to rethink the law on part-human chimeras

Julian J. Koplin, Julian Savulescu

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleResearchpeer-review

21 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

It may soon be possible to generate human tissues and organs inside of part-human chimeras via a technique known as interspecies blastocyst complementation. Using Australian legislation as a case study, we show why this technique of creating part-human chimeras falls within the gaps of existing legislation. We give an overview of the key ethical issues raised by part-human chimera research, and we describe how well these issues are met by a range of possible regulatory approaches. We ultimately argue that regulation of part-human chimera research should be (re)designed to balance two key aims: to facilitate ethical research involving part-human chimeras and to prevent unethical experimentation with chimeras that have an uncertain - and potentially substantial - degree of moral status.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)37-50
Number of pages14
JournalJournal of Law and the Biosciences
Volume6
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 18 Jul 2019
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • chimera
  • moral status
  • stem cell research and practice

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