Abstract
Human Embryonic Stem (hES) cell research has met with a mixed reception internationally, but in the UK remains a significant national priority. Management of what is called the ‘national embryo supply’ in the UK involves new forms of governance at the ‘IVF-Stem cell Interface’, where questions about the provenance of donated embryos, including the ethics of their sourcing, are at a premium. This article explores the question of embryo donation to stem cell research from the perspective of the increasing proximity of IVF and hES cell derivation, using a model of ‘double reproductive value’ to explore what forms of exchange and flow are occurring, and how these are defined and negotiated in the context of a national hES cell coordination network of practitioners.
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aSarah Franklin is Professor of the Social Study of Biomedicine in the Department of Sociology at the London School of Economics, and Associate Director of the BIOS Centre for the Study of Bioscience, Biomedicine, Biotechnology and Society. She is a social scientist with an interest in reproductive technology, cloning, stem cells and embryo research, and has written and edited 14 books and over 50 articles on these and related topics. Her forthcoming monograph from Duke University Press is entitled Dolly mixtures: The remaking of genealogy.
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Franklin, S. Embryonic Economies: The Double Reproductive Value of Stem Cells. BioSocieties 1, 71–90 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1017/S1745855205040081
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S1745855205040081