{"id":4946,"date":"2025-12-05T23:48:23","date_gmt":"2025-12-05T23:48:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.uehiroethics.hiroshima-u.ac.jp\/en\/?p=4946"},"modified":"2025-12-05T23:57:53","modified_gmt":"2025-12-05T23:57:53","slug":"elementor-44-5-2-2-2-3-2-2-2-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/en.uehiroethics.hiroshima-u.ac.jp\/en\/elementor-44-5-2-2-2-3-2-2-2-3\/","title":{"rendered":"Ethics should lead, not play catch-up, Hiroshima University expert emphasizes as Japan panel OKs making human embryos from stem cells"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Ethics should lead, not play catch-up, Hiroshima University expert emphasizes as Japan panel OKs making human embryos from stem cells<\/span><\/span>
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAs Japan moves closer to becoming the first nation to allow research on human embryos created from lab-grown sperm and eggs, a leading bioethicist at Hiroshima University has cautioned against the widening gap between rapid scientific advances and slower pace of ethical and societal deliberation.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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A leading bioethicist at Hiroshima University is calling for an anticipatory, rather than reactive, approach to ethics after a Japanese government panel in August backed a report that brings the country a step closer to becoming the first in the world to allow research on human embryos created from stem cell\u2013derived sperm and eggs.<\/p>


In a correspondence article titled \u201cEthics must keep pace with embryo research<\/a>\u201d published in the journal\u00a0Nature<\/em>\u00a0(Vol. 646), Hiroshima University Professor (Special Recognition) Tsutomu Sawai cautions that science is advancing faster than society\u2019s ability to debate its implications. He urges ethicists to \u201cengage in forward-looking debate to prevent researchers from rushing into controversial experiments.\u201d<\/p>

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He points to the 2018 gene-edited babies scandal as a cautionary example of what can happen when technology outpaces ethical review. In that case, a Chinese scientist announced the birth of the world\u2019s first gene-edited babies, the result of experiments using the CRISPR-Cas9 tool to make embryos resistant to HIV. The researcher drew global outrage for the risky experiments on human embryos that flouted established ethical norms and oversight expectations.<\/p>

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\u201cAn anticipatory approach is needed: to assess social effects early, define boundaries in plain language and design governance that can evolve as evidence develops. It should include safeguards against misuse, and clear red lines for any credible signs of sentience,\u201d Sawai said.<\/p>

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\u201cThe goal is not to restrain science but to guide it with foresight.\u201d<\/p>

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According to the Japan panel\u2019s report, culturing embryos in the laboratory will be limited to 14 days, and implantation into a human or animal uterus will be prohibited. So far, it is not yet feasible to create\u00a0lab-grown sperm and eggs<\/a>\u00a0from human pluripotent stem cells, such as iPS cells. However, it is expected to become possible in about\u00a0five years<\/a>, an advancement that could accelerate research on treatments for infertility and genetic disorders.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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About the study<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Journal: <\/span>Nature<\/em><\/p>

Title: Ethics must keep pace with embryo research<\/p>

DOI: 10.1038\/d41586-025-03502-w<\/a><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Ethics should lead, not play catch-up, Hiroshima University expert emphasizes as Japan panel OKs making human embryos from stem cells As Japan moves closer to becoming the first nation to allow research on human embryos created from lab-grown sperm and eggs, a leading bioethicist at Hiroshima University has cautioned against the widening gap between rapid scientific advances and slower pace of ethical and societal deliberation. A leading bioethicist at Hiroshima University is calling for an anticipatory, rather than reactive, approach to ethics after a Japanese government panel in August backed a report that brings the country a step closer to becoming the first in the world to allow research on human embryos created from stem cell\u2013derived sperm and eggs. In a correspondence article titled \u201cEthics must keep pace with embryo research\u201d published in the journal\u00a0Nature\u00a0(Vol. 646), Hiroshima University Professor (Special Recognition) Tsutomu Sawai cautions that science is advancing faster <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3527,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"elementor_canvas","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"disabled","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4946","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-release"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.uehiroethics.hiroshima-u.ac.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4946","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.uehiroethics.hiroshima-u.ac.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.uehiroethics.hiroshima-u.ac.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.uehiroethics.hiroshima-u.ac.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.uehiroethics.hiroshima-u.ac.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4946"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/en.uehiroethics.hiroshima-u.ac.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4946\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4949,"href":"https:\/\/en.uehiroethics.hiroshima-u.ac.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4946\/revisions\/4949"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.uehiroethics.hiroshima-u.ac.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3527"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.uehiroethics.hiroshima-u.ac.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4946"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.uehiroethics.hiroshima-u.ac.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4946"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.uehiroethics.hiroshima-u.ac.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4946"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}