Significant steps toward producing embryonic stem cells without using human eggs, and in some cases without creating embryos, were published on Wednesday in the journal Nature, a development that could ease ethical concerns about such research.
The prospect of creating embryonic stem cells containing a patient’s own genetic information has provoked great excitement and research investment, as it has raised the possibility of using the cells to understand disease or transplanting them to treat diseases. But most methods developed for making the multitalented stem cells have required using unfertilized egg cells, which can be painful and risky for women to donate, and creating embryos, which must be destroyed to remove the stem cells. Both steps have raised ethical red flags.