Japan’s Strict Restrictions on Human Embryo Research Yields Great Breakthroughs

Japan has very strict controls on use of embryos for research, much more strict than the US. Basically the US has restrictions on FEDERAL FUNDING of controversial research, i.e. on human embryos, otherwise it’s a go ahead policy for private entities and individual states, which like California, use tax payer money to fund such research. Japan’s regulations are strict. And what exactly is hindered? Japan’s Yamanaka had a huge breakthrough, and is continuing with improvements.

Take a look at this now ironically entitled article from August 2007 “Irrational Japanese regulations hinder embryonic stem cell research”
OH YEAH?!!

Two months later Dr. Yamanaka shatters the “logic” of this ridiculous article. Nevertheless, it is interesting that Japan, not a Christian nation by any stretch of the imagination i.e. much less that 1% of the population, has strict regulations on human (embryonic) research.

“Our guidelines require approval both by research organizations’ ethics committee (an institutional review board (IRB) expanded to include a lawyer, bioethicist and layperson) and by a designated government committee. This may make sense for experiments that destroy human embryos or involve human subjects. However, the duplicated approval process is required simply to use existing hES cells in the laboratory. We must apply for the approval every time we change or expand the approved research plan to include new experiments, add new persons to the research team, change the room used for experiments, or simply extend the period of the research plan, such as from 3 to 5 years. These regulations fall outside the global consensus described by the international guidelines compiled by the ISSCR¹⁰, which clearly state that laboratory use of existing hES cell lines does not require the kind of scrutiny necessary when scientists work with embryos directly.

In other countries, researchers can begin experiments using existing hES cell lines within a month. In Japan, satisfying all the regulatory requirements can easily take a full year. That burden certainly discourages Japanese scientists from embarking on hES cell research, at least in Japan. With accelerating global competition, smart young scientists in Japan avoid hES cell research; the delays and handicaps keep them from performing work necessary to publish articles in respected journals and establish their careers.

OH YEAH?!!

These cumbersome processes became formalized in Japan in 2001 when the current guidelines were issued, in the wake of ethical concerns stressed by nonscientists who did not consider practical implications or essential distinctions, such as whether embryos, ES cells and cells differentiated from ES cells should be regulated differently. The scientific community failed to launch a unified, rational response to the proposed guidelines and their implementation. Few scientists at the time worked in hES cells. Those who did not were indifferent. Scientist leaders, mainly working outside the field, were eager to be seen as cautious, and did not consider how regulations could hinder progress. Government officials heard no consolidated objective opinion from the scientific community, and chose a stance calculated to avoid criticism. They considered only the praise zealous restrictions could bring, but not the cost to science and society. However, the resulting delays and distractions damage the interests of our country and people, especially patients who could potentially benefit from treatments developed from hES cell research.”