Final Report (all chapters)

And we have to have some degree – and I'm not going to call it regulation, I don't like that term,
obviously, but there has to be some consensus as to what should be permitted and shouldn't be
permitted in almost a global way. 70
As for other lines of medical research discussed in this chapter, there is no reason to
entertain immediate radical regulatory interventions. The sense of unease that these experiments
are likely to trigger in many readers is, however, a clear indication that potentially controversial
medical research can only move forward if adequate legal safeguards are put in place and if
Congress takes the necessary steps to ensure compliance. That we learned about these
experiments serendipitously only underscores just how precarious our ability to identify and
monitor momentous scientific developments is. There is a subtle but important difference
between trust and blind trust. A much more systematic approach to monitoring scientific
activities would go a long way toward restoring public confidence in the scientific enterprise.
4.5.2 Making Sperm
Over the last few years, science magazines and scientific journals have reported on several
important experiments pertaining to the creation of human sperm. Like other research protocols
discussed in this section, none of these experiments, taken in isolation, is of immediate relevance
to clinicians, and they do not, therefore, raise immediate ethical concerns. All of them, however,
are suggestive of momentous future clinical applications.
The first two experiments involved growing sperm in mice. Already, in 2002, a research
group had succeeded in grafting testicular tissue from goats and pigs under the skin of mice. 71
The experiment showed that the immature testicular tissue does indeed develop into normal
sperm. In the fall of 2004, researchers at Yale University conducted a similar experiment, this
time using human testicular tissue. They were able to growth testicular tissue taken from adult
humans with immature testes under the skin of mice. The tissue was still viable after 19 weeks,
when it was retrieved for analysis. 72 According to the researchers, these experiments eventually
should allow development of a technique that could restore fertility in children undergoing
chemotherapy. More generally, this line of research should lead to more effective cures for male
infertility.
Should anyone be concerned about this line of research? From a narrow, utilitarian point of
view, these experiments, per se, do not seem to raise any serious ethical concerns. After all, their
declared goal is purely therapeutic, and it would be difficult to argue that anyone would be
harmed by the clinical applications of these techniques. At the same time, the claim that these
experiments have no broader significance presumes that the technology in question will be used
70
71
72
John P. Gearhart, Rudolf Jaenisch, and David Prentice, Stem Cell Research: Recent Scientific and Clinical
Developments (Session 3, President's Council on Bioethics Meeting, July 24-25, 2003 [cited September 16,
2005]); available from http://www.bioethics.gov/transcripts/july03/session3.html.
James Meek, "Mice May Provide Human Sperm Bank," The Guardian, August 15, 2002.
James Randerson, "Human Testicular Tissue Grown in Mice," New Scientist, October 19, 2004.
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