Preprint Review Version 1 Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed

Stem Cells and Infertility: A Review of Clinical Applications and Legal Frameworks

Version 1 : Received: 10 October 2023 / Approved: 11 October 2023 / Online: 11 October 2023 (13:20:49 CEST)

A peer-reviewed article of this Preprint also exists.

Cucinella, G.; Gullo, G.; Catania, E.; Perino, A.; Billone, V.; Marinelli, S.; Napoletano, G.; Zaami, S. Stem Cells and Infertility: A Review of Clinical Applications and Legal Frameworks. J. Pers. Med. 2024, 14, 135. Cucinella, G.; Gullo, G.; Catania, E.; Perino, A.; Billone, V.; Marinelli, S.; Napoletano, G.; Zaami, S. Stem Cells and Infertility: A Review of Clinical Applications and Legal Frameworks. J. Pers. Med. 2024, 14, 135.

Abstract

Infertility” is a condition defined by the failure to establish a clinical pregnancy after 12 months of regular, unprotected sexual intercourse or due to an impairment of a person’s capacity to reproduce either as an individual or with his/her partner’. The authors have set out to succinctly investigate, explore and assess infertility treatments harnessing the potential of stem cells to effectively and safely treat infertility, in addition to the legal and regulatory complexities at the heart of stem cell research, with an overview of the legislative state of affairs in six major European countries. In couples who cannot benefit from assisted reproductive technologies (ART) to treat their infertility, stem cells-based approaches have been shown to be a highly promising approach. Nonetheless, lingering ethical and immunological uncertainties require more conclusive findings and data before such treatment avenues can become mainstream and applied large scale. The isolation of human embryonic stem cells (ESCs) is ethically controversial, since their collection involves the destruction of human embryonic tissue. Overall, stem cell research has resulted in important new breakthroughs in the treatment of infertility. The effort to untangle the complex web of ethical and legal issues associated with such therapeutic approaches will have to rely on evidence-based, broadly shared standards, guidelines and best practices to make sure that the procreative rights of patients can be effectively reconciled with the core values at the heart of medical ethics.

Keywords

Infertility; assisted reproductive technologies (ART); human embryonic stem cells (ESCs); Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs); Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSCs); Ovarian Stem Cells (OSCs); Spermatogonial Stem Cells (SSCs); ethics and legal implications

Subject

Medicine and Pharmacology, Obstetrics and Gynaecology

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