I-20: Good Science and Good Ethics@ WhyWe Should Discourage Payment for Eggs inStem Cell Research?

Background: To evaluate current scientific and legal trends in provision of human eggs for stem cell research and to propose a policy which is both ethically and scientifically sound Materials and Methods: Literature survey of European and US policies on payment for egg donation in somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) research; comparative analysis of potential for success in SCNT and induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) research Results: While the New York State Stem Cell Research Foundation has recently voted to allow payment for eggs in SCNT research, their decision is at odds with legal trends in other jurisdictions, with the aftermath of the Hwang case, with National Institute of Health guidelines, and with scientific trends favouring the development of iPSC research over SCNT.Conclusion: Although past ethical controversies pitted ’good science’ against ’good ethics’--the former supposedly requiring human eggs for stem cell research, the latter arguing that this was ethically problematic because it exploted egg donors--good science and good ethics are no longer contradictory. We should discourage payment for human eggs for research because it leads neither to good science nor to good ethics.