Stem Cell Ethics & Policy
We study the ethical, legal and social implications of stem cell research and related technologies.
While stem cell medicine offers enormous promise to change how we treat childhood illnesses and chronic health conditions in the future, scientific advances using stem cells also raise significant societal issues. Failure to adequately address these considerations may impede progress towards safe and effective therapies, as well as jeopardise public trust in medical research and stem cell science.
Our research seeks to capture the views and experiences of families and individuals contemplating experimental stem cell and gene therapies. We are particularly interested in learning about what people know or would like to know, about stem cell research and exploring what policies and regulations would enhance community understanding, and ultimately increase access to new evidence-based treatments.
We are also interested in the views of the doctors and scientists driving scientific progress, and what professional and public health policies are required to enable the responsible translation of stem cell research into new medicines.
Our group’s interests also span ethical and regulatory questions raised by laboratory research using stem cells to understand how organs, eggs, sperm and embryos are formed and what can go awry during development or in response to injury or disease.
Findings from our research are crucial to shaping the future of stem cell research and developing a framework to help Australian families make informed decisions about their future healthcare.
Related research
Group Leaders
Group Members
Our projects
Getting prepared for stem cell medicine
As part of reNEW, the Novo Nordisk Foundation Centre for Stem Cell Medicine, this project will investigate the ethical, legal, social and economic implications raised by stem cell research and its clinical translation.
We will explore the views and expectations of patients, their families and the broader community about stem cell medicine, as well as capture the views of scientists, doctors and policy makers at the forefront of this technology evolution.
We will do this over time and across Denmark, Australia and the Netherlands. Findings will inform translational strategy, public and professional education activities and communication objectives for this global initiative.
Cellular Horizons - Improving decisions about access to stem cell interventions
This interdisciplinary research collaboration explores how best to support decision making around patient’s access to cellular therapies. This project sees ethicists, lawyers and social scientists from Australia and Singapore working with consumers, clinicians and policymakers to devise new ways to assist people in making decisions about when and how to access to cellular interventions.
Monitoring stem cell tourism down under
The Australian Government recently introduced policy reforms to curb the direct-to-consumer marketing of unproven stem cell therapies. This project will track the impact of this policy change on the previously documented Australian marketplace. Of particular interest will be evaluating whether there has been the desired change in marketing practices, clinical research activity and the location of services within Australia.
Beyond the ‘accidental’ advisor – a case for a stem cell counsellor
Finding information about whether stem cells are an option can be a daunting task for many Australians and their families. This project examines the evolution of the genetics counsellor profession in Australia and seeks to explore whether it would be possible to adapt or augment existing services in genetics to help people navigate the often-conflicting information they receive particularly from their own online research.
Modelling life, form and function in a dish
Stem cells are routinely used in the laboratory to make bespoke body cells, and more recently to mimic how organs – and even early-stage human embryos – assemble and develop. This project explores how this emerging area of stem cell science is viewed by participants and the broader public and whether current regulations adequately address ethical and community concerns.
Funding
- Medical Research Future Fund Stem Cell Therapies Mission
- Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Stem Cell Medicine, reNEW (Grant Number NNF21CC0073729)
Collaborations
- Dr Christopher Gyngell, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and University of Melbourne
- Dr Sharon Lewis, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and University of Melbourne
- Associate Professor Louise Corben, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and Monash University
- Professor Klaus Hoeyer, University of Copenhagen
- Associate Professor Louise Whiteley, University of Copenhagen
- Professor Ken Arnold, University of Copenhagen
- Professor Martine de Vries, Leiden University Medical Center
- Dr Wilbert van den Hout, Leiden University Medical Center
- Professor Insoo Hyun, Harvard Medical School
- Associate Professor Tamra Lysaght, National University of Singapore
- Professor Clare Blackburn, University of Edinburgh
- Associate Professor Ubaka Ogbogu, University of Alberta
- Associate Professor Amy Zarzeczny, University of Regina
- Professor Alan Petersen, Monash University
- Dr Claire Tanner, Monash University
- Dr Sian Supski, Monash University
- Professor Robyn Woodward-Kron, the University of Melbourne
- Professor Shanton Chang, the University of Melbourne
- Professor Christine Wells, the University of Melbourne
- Associate Professor Paula O’Brien, the University of Melbourne
- Professor Wendy Lipworth, Macquarie University
- Professor Ian Kerridge, University of Sydney
- Professor Cameron Stewart, University of Sydney
- Professor John Rasko, University of Sydney
- Dr Christopher Rudge, University of Sydney
- Professor Rachel Ankeny, University of Adelaide
- Professor Joan Leach, Australian National University
Featured publications
Ankeny R, Munsie M, Leach J (2022) Developing a Reflexive, Anticipatory, and Deliberative Approach to Unanticipated Discoveries: Ethical Lessons from iBlastoids. American Journal of Bioethics. 22(1):36-45. doi: 10.1080/15265161.2021.1974976.
Lovell-Badge R, Barker A, Bubela T…..Munsie M….Zettler PJ, Zhai X (2021) ISSCR guidelines for stem cell research and clinical translation: The 2021 update. Stem Cells Report. 16(6):1398-1408. doi: 10.1016/j.stemcr.2021.05.012.
Munsie M, Lysaght T, Hendl T, Tan HL, Kerridge I and Stewart C (2017) Open for business: a comparative study of websites selling autologous stem cells in Australia and Japan. Regenerative Medicine 12(7):777-790. doi: 10.2217/rme-2017-0070.
Rivron N, Pera M, Rossant J, Martinez Arias A, Zernicka-Goetz M, Fu J, van den Brink S, Bredenoord A, Dondorp W, de Wert G, Hyun I, Munsie M, Isasi R (2018) Debate ethics of embryo models from stem cells. Nature 564(7735): 183-185.
Petersen A, Munsie M, Tanner C, MacGregor C & Brophy J (2017) Stem Cell Tourism and the Political Economy of Hope. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN: 978-1-137-47042-3