Faculty Bibliography

Researchers are developing a fertility preservation technique--testicular tissue cryopreservation (TTCP)--for prepubescent boys who may become infertile as a result of their cancer treatment. Although this technique is still in development, some researchers are calling for its widespread use. They argue that if boys do not bank their tissue now, they will be unable to benefit from any therapies that might be developed in the future. There are, however, risks involved with increasing access to an investigational procedure. This article examines four methods of expanding access to TTCP: (1) expansion of institutional review board (IRB)-approved research trials; (2) offering TTCP as an innovative procedure in hospitals; (3) offering TTCP as a standard practice in hospitals; and (4) commercialization of TTCP. The ethical and practical implications of each are evaluated through a comparison with umbilical cord blood banking (UCBB), a technology that has achieved widespread use based on similar claims of future benefit.

Advances in the field of synthetic biology are creating many new practical applications. These new applications raise novel regulatory challenges. Biotechnological innovation was first addressed by the United States (US) National Institutes of Health (NIH) at the advent of recombinant DNA research.1 Today, synthetic biology requires consideration of the ethics and risks involved in the governance of an applied technology that spans national borders and has applications in a wide variety of sectors. Because approaches to governance vary by nation and sector, and can range from precautionary to prudent, it is necessary to consider the context from which different approaches arise if there is to be any successful move towards universal governance