Japan Government Panel Approves Research on Human Embryos Created from Stem Cells

Kyodo News reports that a Japanese government bioethics panel has agreed to allow the creation of human embryos using eggs or sperm derived from pluripotent stem cells—such as induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells or embryonic stem (ES) cells—for research purposes. The research will focus on issues like infertility and hereditary diseases.

Under the panel’s recommendations, these embryos may only be cultured for up to 14 days, consistent with existing guidelines for conventional fertilized egg research. Implantation of these embryos into either human or animal uteruses will be strictly prohibited.

While to date there have been no known cases of eggs or sperm created from human stem cells, only precuroser cells, the panel anticipates that creating human eggs and sperm from stem cells will soon be “technologically feasible” in Japan. 

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