Abstract
LANGUAGE NOTE | Document text in Chinese; abstract also in English.很多人曾經預言幹細胞基礎研究是諾貝爾獎的應允之地,但沒想到這賜福來的如此之快。從另一個側面,這個獎項也說明了與幹細胞研究息息相關的各大生命醫學領域的科學家對於這一醫學或生物學發現是多麼的飢渴。本文著重探討“誘導多功能幹細胞”(iPSCs)研究所引發的生命技術在倫理學上的挑戰。傳統形而上學和宗教道德觀對人性的定義、對人格、家庭、人倫關係等等問題的看法,都會由於當前的幹細胞研究而產生前所未有的變化。面對全新的生命技術,我們人類是否準備好了這個挑戰呢?Despite stem cell researchers receiving the 2012 Nobel Prize in Medicine for discovering that mature cells can be reprogrammed to become pluripotent, stem cell research is still controversial in bio-medical debates. Stem cells have undoubted medical potential in areas such as repairing aging and injured tissues and organs, but stem-cell research involves the creation, use, and destruction of human embryos. That leads to the question of whether embryonic stem cells have moral status and what it means to be human.This essay explores how new stem cell technology will drastically change the way we define humans and human relationships. We will need to ask what a human being is, what personhood is, what marriage is, and what reproduction is. At the same time, regenerative medicine that depends on the availability of appropriate cells and cell lines gives rise to questions of who “owns” human material and its derived products, and the “rights” of cell donors. The commercial benefits from regenerative medicine will also create black markets such that in China. The essay concludes that stem cell research must be controlled and limited, and its ethical impacts and implications must be taken seriously.DOWNLOAD HISTORY | This article has been downloaded 129 times in Digital Commons before migrating into this platform.
Highlights
緊接著第二年,山中伸彌又發表了他的另一重要成果。2 在小鼠 身上獲得成功的體細胞重編程技術在人體細胞中獲得同樣的效果, 他與美國的Thomson實驗室分別用逆轉錄病毒與慢病毒載體將 4 種 轉錄因數OCT4、SOX2、c-MYC、KLF4 或OCT4、SOX2、LIN28 和 NANOG感染人體皮膚成纖維細胞後將其回轉成具有胚胎幹細胞特 性的人體iPSCs。這種技術不需要使用人類胚胎,卵細胞,它甚至也 (1) Takahashi, Kazutoshi and Yamanaka Shinya
First Things 187 (Nov 2008): 16. (4) “Nobel awarded for stem cell, early cloning work.” 8 October 2012
“Woman may one day make their own sperm from skin cells.”
Summary
緊接著第二年,山中伸彌又發表了他的另一重要成果。2 在小鼠 身上獲得成功的體細胞重編程技術在人體細胞中獲得同樣的效果, 他與美國的Thomson實驗室分別用逆轉錄病毒與慢病毒載體將 4 種 轉錄因數OCT4、SOX2、c-MYC、KLF4 或OCT4、SOX2、LIN28 和 NANOG感染人體皮膚成纖維細胞後將其回轉成具有胚胎幹細胞特 性的人體iPSCs。這種技術不需要使用人類胚胎,卵細胞,它甚至也 (1) Takahashi, Kazutoshi and Yamanaka Shinya. 英國詩人威廉.布萊克(William Blake)有一段簡單而美好的詩 句:“一沙一世界,一花一天堂。手中握無限,瞬間即永恆。”人體 中的幹細胞也具備同樣的“詩意”,每一個人都是開始於比一粒沙子 還要細小的受精卵,再從受精卵進一步分裂為被稱為“萬能細胞”的 胚胎幹細胞,它可以分化成不同類型的體細胞,最終發育成為身體 的各種組織和器官。理想中的幹細胞研究在醫療方面的應用就是可 2012 年最新一屆的諾貝爾生理/醫學獎頒發給英國科學家古爾 登(John Gurdon)和日本科學家山中伸彌(Shinya Yamanaka),他們的 研究工作成功地證明了成熟的體細胞可以被重新編程恢復為具有多 能性的幹細胞,也稱為誘導多功能幹細胞(Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells;以下縮寫作 iPSCs)。 “Induction of Pluripotent Stem Cells from Mouse Embryonic and Adult Fibroblast Cultures by Defined Factors.” Cell 126.4 (August 25, 2006): 663-676. “Induction of Pluripotent Stem Cells from Adult Human Fibroblasts by Defined Factors.” Cell 131.5 (November 30, 2007): 861-872.
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