Medico Legal and Ethical Study of Stem Cell Research in India

Abstract

Stem cells have the ability to produce a large number of specialised cells or tissue by regeneration and differentiation. The cells that regenerate could be known to cure disease or injury. As a result, they are distinguished from other cell types by their ability to replicate themselves. Stem cells offer the potential to develop cell-based therapies. Such type of research could lead to novel and improved treatments for a variety of disorders, including diabetes, spinal cord injuries, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and heart disease. Stem cell treatment, also characterized as regenerative medicine, induce the repair mechanism of damaged, diseased, or injured tissue using stem cells and their derivatives. Early-stage embryos are used to obtain human embryonic stem cells. Because human embryonic stem cells are harvested from human embryos, there have been various concerns raised the moral and ethical issues in embryonic stem cell research. On the other hand, reprogramming of somatic cells to make induced pluripotent stem cells, avoids the moral and ethical issues that come with embryonic stem cell research. In human stem cell research in addition to moral issues, informed consent to donate materials, critical downstream research, premature clinical trials and oversight all issues occur. To ensure that stem cell research is carried out in an ethically acceptable way, these ethical and policy issues must be discussed along with scientific challenges. This article examines these challenges and how they are addressed in India are explained.