The destruction of embryos for research, when an embryo becomes "human" and what controls, if any, should be placed on scientists are key questions to be considered in a public consultation that got under way yesterday.
Members of the public are being asked to respond to these and other questions by the Irish Council for Bioethics. According to the council's scientific director, Dr Siobhán O'Sullivan, the goal is to assess public sentiment on the question of stem-cell research using both adult and embryonic stem cells.
The council is in the process of drawing up an opinion on the issue based on discussions with the public and with "stakeholders" such as the scientific community, the churches, disability groups, healthcare professionals and others. This will be presented to the Government early next year.
"It will be an opinion from the bioethics council on stem-cell research in Ireland - whether Ireland should be involved in adult and embryonic stem-cell research," Dr O'Sullivan said. "We are looking at the whole question of stem cells."
This will include research on adult stem cells taken, for example, from adult bone, blood and organ tissues, and embryonic stem cells, recovered from two-week-old embryos in a process that destroys the embryo. "You can't look at one without looking at the other," she said.
Stem cells are important because they are starter cells for many tissue types. Researchers are learning how to encourage these cells to "differentiate", ie to grow into specific cell types such as brain cells or pancreatic cells.
The hope is that these differentiated cells could be used to treat diseases such as Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease or diabetes. There are powerful ethical questions involved, however, because these health gains could be dependent on the destruction of embryos harvested for their stem cells.
For this reason, the council launched a major consultation process last year, taking submissions from stakeholders from last October to the end of December, Dr O'Sullivan said.
Now it is the public's turn to contribute, using either the internet to contact the council or by post. "It is basically in the form of a questionnaire, with the opportunity to make wider comments on the issue," she said.
While people will be asked to respond to specific questions, it is not an opinion poll, but is an attempt to gauge public sentiment on this controversial research.
The council has run a number of public talks on the issue, and one clear response from the public is a request for more easily understood information. "We want to reach as many people as we can and we want to have the public consultation done before we sit down and work on a draft opinion."
Dr O'Sullivan cited a range of questions the council hopes to raise, including whether embryonic stem-cell research should be allowed here, given that extensive adult stem-cell work is already under way.
People will be asked to comment on when they believe the embryo acquires "full moral status", and whether people opposed to embryonic research would be willing to use any therapies developed from research conducted in other countries.
Dr O'Sullivan acknowledged that it was an extremely divisive topic, but one that needed consultation given the rapid advances in scientific research.
For those wishing to make a submission, forms are available online at www.bioethics.ie or by phoning the council on 01-4773217. The closing date for submissions is April 30th.