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Stem Cell Research and Economic Promises

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2021

Timothy Caulfield
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Policy arguments in support of stem cell research often use economic benefit as a key rationale for permissive policies and increased government funding. Economic growth, job creation, improved productivity, and a reduction in the burden of disease are all worthy goals and, as such, can be used as powerful rhetorical tools in efforts to sway voters, politicians, and funding agencies. However, declarations of economic and commercial benefit — which can be found in policy reports, the scientific literature, public funding policies, and the popular press — have arguably created a great deal of expectation. Can stem cell research deliver on the economic promise? And what are the implications of this economic ethos for the researchers who must work under its shadow?

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Symposium
Information
Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics , Volume 38 , Issue 2 , Summer 2010 , pp. 303 - 313
Copyright
Copyright © American Society of Law, Medicine and Ethics 2010

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References

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For an interesting and comprehensive proposal that seeks to balance the need for “openness and restraint in biomedical research and innovation,” see Winickoff, , supra note 1, at 63. See also Murray, F., “The Stem-Cell Market – Patents and the Pursuit of Scientific Progress,” New England Journal of Medicine 356, no. 23 (2007): 2341–2343, at 2343: “[O]ne can envision an open commons for human embryonic stem-cell research, combined with strong incentives for commercial research investments. Such a scheme would not mean eschewing patent rights. Rather, it would require a commitment by academic institutions to allow a wide-reaching reciprocal exemption for the free exchange of materials for research purposes, with relevant stipulations built into commercial licenses.”Google Scholar
While it is difficult to disentangle the impact of patents from commercialization pressure more generally, many of the concerns would seem likely to exist independent of the patenting process. For example, if patenting was not allowed, would there still be data withholding?Google Scholar
See, for example, Winickoff, , supra note 1. For a discussion of important role of governance in the context of biobanking, see Kaye, J. and Stranger, M., eds., Principles for Biobank Governance (Surrey, United Kingdom: Ashgate, 2009); and Häyry, M., Chadwick, R., Arnason, V., and Arnason, G., eds., The Ethics and Governance of Human Genetic Databases: European Perspectives (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007).Google Scholar
See Baker, , supra note 26.Google Scholar