Ethics / Supporters of the move: Research and healing will be promoted; Opponents: Israel - "Sabbath Gentile"
By: Tamara Traubman, Haaretz and Walla news!
Stem cells produced in Israel from human embryos are exported from the beginning of this month to Germany. This is about the export of cells from the Technion and Rambam Hospital in Haifa. The stem cells are produced from very young embryos, and can become any of the cell types in the body.
Opinions regarding the export of stem cells are divided: scientists, many doctors and prominent ethicists claim that this is a welcome joint venture, which will advance science and perhaps even lead to the development of new medical treatments; However, some jurists and sociologists - both in Germany and in Israel - claim that although the export of cells is completely legal, it involves a lot of problems.
The launch of the cells - which was done for the first time at the beginning of this month - was carried out without prior discussion in national ethics committees and without any public discussion. In Germany itself, already about a year ago, the possibility of cells being imported from Israel provoked extensive and sharp public criticism, which was also heard by the "National Council of Ethics" of Germany. Some critics point to the symbolic meaning of the step, and claim that it is a macabre twist of history and turning Israeli research into a kind of "Sabbath heathen" of German research. German law considers the production of stem cells from human embryos an immoral act; This is the opinion of many countries in the world. According to German law, researchers in the country are prohibited from extracting and studying stem cells from embryos created in Germany.
Last year a law was passed in the Bundestag, which allows in exceptional cases to import stem cells from foreign countries. "The German press then pointed out the double standards of the German law and the absurdity of the fact that an action prohibited in embryos from Germany is permitted in embryos that come from other population groups," says Yael Hashiloni-Dolev, a sociology lecturer at Tel Aviv University, who is writing a doctoral thesis on applications of genetic knowledge in Israel and Germany.
The stem cells sent to Germany were produced at the Technion's Faculty of Medicine, by Prof. Yosef Itzkovich-Eldor, director of the women's department at Rambam. According to him, this is a research collaboration and the Technion did not receive payment for it. However, Adv. Avi Goldsobel, legal advisor of the Technion, said: "The results of the research will be jointly owned (...) We thereby increase the basis of intellectual property on the topic of stem cells."
In the study, the researchers in Germany will try to learn how stem cells can be "convinced" to become nerve cells. Dr. Oliver Bristol from the University of Bonn, who has been researching nerve cells and stem cells from mouse embryos for many years, hopes that in the future - it is not clear when - the new nerve cells will be transplanted into people suffering from diseases of the nervous system, and cure diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.
Bristella wanted to start researching stem cells from human embryos as well, but until recently German law did not allow this: the "Fetus Protection Act" in Germany prohibits any research on human embryos. About two years ago, German researchers began to wonder if the law also applied to embryonic cells produced in foreign countries. In January 2002, after a long debate, the Bundestag approved a law that allows the cells to be imported in "exceptional cases". According to the new decision, the researchers must provide evidence that the research is of "excellent scientific quality" and cannot be done with other cells, such as adult stem cells (derived from tissues of adult humans) or cells from animals. The importation is subject to the approval of a multidisciplinary ethics committee. Last month, the committee approved for Bristol to import the cells from Israel; This was the first approval given. It was defined as a "test case" and aroused great interest in the media. In the debate going on these days in Germany, many deny cell research, but some argue that the importation of stem cells should be allowed, as well as their production and research.
According to Dr. Jens Reich from the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in Berlin, the Germans' reluctance to research human embryos stems from two main reasons: one is their past - the experiments the Nazis carried out on humans in World War II; The other is rooted in German philosophical thought. According to this concept, which is anchored in the teachings of Immanuel Kant, man is an "end in himself", and therefore must not become a "tool" to achieve goals that are not intended for his personal benefit. Experiments on humans, according to this view, are also considered ethical only as long as they are done for the benefit of the subject of the experiment.
But is a fetus also defined as a "person", asks Prof. Asa Kosher, a philosopher and expert in bioethics from Tel Aviv University. Kosher thinks not. The embryos from which stem cells are produced are five days old, Kosher says, they look like a microscopic ball of cells and have not yet developed unique characteristics that we perceive as 'human'. At a conference on stem cells held last year by the Germany-Israel Foundation in Heidelberg, Kosher said that the Germans had gone too far in their sweeping position. According to him and in the opinion of many other scientists and doctors, the German position prevents patients from benefiting from the possibility that stem cell research will lead to a cure for their disease. "Perhaps we, the Jews from Israel," said Kosher, "are the only ones who can tell you about this reaction: you have exaggerated."
However, according to Amos Shapira, a professor of law and expert in medical ethics at Tel Aviv University, the import arrangement adopted by the Germans is "a problematic moral compromise, in terms of 'we will not do the dirty work, but we will do research if it is done by someone else'".
Dr. Carmel Shalu, Director of the Ethics and Health Rights Unit at the Gartner Institute for Health Policy Research, says that even if it is decided that there is nothing wrong with exporting biological materials and DNA samples abroad, the issue must be regulated at the state level. Today, the transfer of the samples is managed only at the institutional level of the hospital or university doing the research.
According to her, the researchers should ask the women who donated their embryos for the purpose of producing the cells, consent to conduct the specific research as well. This is so that women who morally object to certain studies can avoid donating their embryos for it. But according to Itzkovich, no such agreement was reached.
The consent, given before the cells were produced, included a general permission to conduct research on them, says Itzkovich. According to him, "It is impossible to ask for consent for every study, there will be no end to it." He also said that he sees no difference between the current collaboration with Germany and any other research done in his laboratory. Like many in the science community, he believes that the collaboration is welcome and intended to advance research.
Stem cells from human embryos - only in Israel and 5 other countries
Apart from Israel, only a few countries produce stem cells from human embryos: India, South Korea, Sweden, Singapore and the USA.
Australia, which sees ethical problems in the production of stem cells, owns cells produced by its scientists in Singapore. In the USA it is forbidden to use government research budgets for the study of stem cells produced after 2001 - most of the cells were produced in private companies. In Sweden, the research is allowed, but under state regulations and a law regulating fetal research. On the other hand, in Israel, as in India, there is no law dealing with experiments on fetuses, and there are no uniform state regulations governing the research.
