The use of human tissue for medical research and scientific progress raises many ethical and legal challenges. The procurement, storage and transfer of human tissue for research purposes have posed significant questions over recent years, and a number of high profile scandals in the UK prompted the publication of the Madden Report on Post Mortem Practice and Procedures in Irish hospitals in 2006. Additionally, tissue-related research tends to be most promising if samples and information are shared across national borders, but the heterogeneity of current rules and guidelines within the member states of the European Union calls all the more for clarification.
This multi-authored interdisciplinary text, edited by four experienced researchers, explores many of the issues concerning biobank-related research and aims to provide answers to the most urgent questions by means of ethical, philosophical, and legal investigation. It provides a fascinating insight into a wide range of interlinking research perspectives and serves as a comprehensive reference to the state of play ethically and legally in Europe. It will be of value to medics and social scientists, human tissue researchers, and policy makers who have an interest in ethical and legal issues of human tissue research.

Presenting real life cases from clinical practice, this book claims that children can be conceived of as moral equals without ignoring the fact that they still are children and in need of strong family relationships. Drawing upon recent advances in childhood studies and its key feature, the 'agentic child', it uncovers the ideology of adultism which has seeped into much what has been written about childhood ethics. However, this book also critically examines those positions that do accord moral equality to children but on grounds not strong enough to support their claim. It lays the groundwork for a theory of moral equality by assessing the concepts of parenthood, family, best interest, paternalism, and, above all, autonomy and trust which are so important in envisioning what we owe the child. It does not only show how children - like adults - should be considered moral agents from infancy but also how ethical theories addressing adults can significantly profit from recognizing this. The analysis takes into account contributions from European as well as American scholars and makes use of a wide range of ethical, psychological, cultural, and social-scientific research.

Presenting real life cases from clinical practice, this book claims that children can be conceived of as moral equals without ignoring the fact that they still are children and in need of strong family relationships. Drawing upon recent advances in childhood studies and its key feature, the 'agentic child', it uncovers the ideology of adultism which has seeped into much what has been written about childhood ethics. However, this book also critically examines those positions that do accord moral equality to children but on grounds not strong enough to support their claim. It lays the groundwork for a theory of moral equality by assessing the concepts of parenthood, family, best interest, paternalism, and, above all, autonomy and trust which are so important in envisioning what we owe the child. It does not only show how children - like adults - should be considered moral agents from infancy but also how ethical theories addressing adults can significantly profit from recognizing this. The analysis takes into account contributions from European as well as American scholars and makes use of a wide range of ethical, psychological, cultural, and social-scientific research.

The volume examines current developments in human genome research and biomedicine. The new possibilities for insight and intervention now that human genes have been decoded confront researchers and society with ethical, legal, and sociocultural issues in human gene research. The book offers an overview of the state of research and serves as a helpful introduction to the current discussion. Detailed attention is given to the areas of genetic diagnostics, functional research with therapeutic purposes, pharmacogenetics, and the individualized medicine of the future

Dieser Sammelband analysiert die klinische Anwendung von humanen induzierten pluripotenten Stammzellen (hiPS-Zellen) aus naturwissenschaftlicher, unternehmerischer, patientenorientierter, ethischer und rechtsvergleichender Perspektive. Die Beitrage des vorliegenden Bandes sind systematisch nach Stakeholdern gegliedert, also nach jenen Personen oder Organisationen, die von einem Transfer der Stammzellforschung in die klinische Medizin direkt oder indirekt betroffen sind. Dies ermoeglicht eine zielgerechte Suche nach Antworten auf individuelle Fragen im Translationsprozess fur neuartige Therapien. Daruber hinaus enthalt der Sammelband die Empfehlungen des Forschungsverbunds ClinhiPS, die sich an alle Stakeholder, insbesondere an Forscher, Kliniker und Patienten, sowie an Gesetzgeber richten. Diese Empfehlungen sollen zu einer erfolgreichen Umsetzung der hiPS-Zell-Forschung in die klinische Praxis in Deutschland und OEsterreich unter Beachtung hoechster Qualitats-, Sicherheits- und Wirksamkeitsstandards beitragen.Das Kapitel Naturwissenschaftliche, ethische und rechtliche Empfehlungen zur klinischen Translation der Forschung mit humanen induzierten pluripotenten Stammzellen und davon abgeleiteten Produkten wird auf link.springer.com unter der Creative Commons Namensnennung 4.0 International Lizenz veroeffentlicht.