OPENING STEM CELL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT: A POLICY PROPOSAL FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF DATA, INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, AND ETHICS

摘要

The need to strike a better balance between free sharing and proprietary andregulatory restraint in the life sciences is becoming an important policy concern in thefields of health policy, law, and bioethics. Here we explore these issues in the field of stemcell research. Expanded funding for stem cell research and development holds uniquepromise for advancing medicine and human welfare. However, technical, proprietary, andregulatory conditions are not ideal: closed information, congested intellectual property,and regulatory complexity are likely to slow innovation, skew attention towards largemarkets, and prevent ethical settlement. Accordingly, we propose a new form of collectiveaction among funding agencies, scientific journals, and research institutions to centralizedata, cell lines, and technologies and to design and disseminate research tools. The goal ismore efficient technology exchange within the research community, orientation of productdevelopment towards pressing public health needs, and promotion of ‘best ethics' inresearch and development.