Janet Rossant - Canada
University of Toronto
Embryos, Embryoids, Chimeras and Gene Editing; The Promise for Improving Human Health and the Ethical Concerns
CC PhD FRS FRSC
Senior Scientist, Developmental and Stem Cell Biology,
The Hospital for Sick Children
University Professor, University of Toronto
President and Scientific
Director, Gairdner Foundation
Canada
The basic science of developmental biology has helped us understand how a human being develops from the single cell, the fertilized egg. Along the way, a number of genetic technologies have been developed in model organisms, such as the mouse, to help understand the processes of normal embryo development and how they go wrong in developmental disorders and
disease. Pluripotent stem (PS) cells, for example, were first derived in the mouse and only later from human embryos. Human pluripotent stem cell
research is now a major international venture, with the first clinical trials
with human PS-derived products now underway. However, human PS cells were ethically controversial, because of their derivation from human early
embryos. Although the advent of human induced pluripotent stem cells, produced by reprogramming adult cells, allayed some of these concerns, new concerns continue to be raised about other technologies as applied to human embryos and stem cells. These are among the areas of research ongoing
today that lead to ongoing debate: creating and destroying embryos for research purposes, extended culture of human embryos with visions of ‘test-tube babies’, artificial embryos made from stem cells, generating gametes from stem cells, making animal-human chimeras, and genetically editing the human embryo. I will discuss the science of these developments and address the need for a broad engagement strategy to develop appropriate regulatory frameworks around human embryo and stem cell research and gene editing
Profile Link:
http://www.sickkids.ca/AboutSickKids/Directory/People/R/Janet-Rossant
