New discoveries in the field of genetic engineering have obtained germ cells (artificial gametes) from human stem cells, which are undifferentiated. Artificial gametes offer a wide range of therapeutic possibilities, from infertility treatments to reproductive options for same-sex couples, people in the post-reproductive stage of life, or for single people wishing to have children.

This research project proposes a regulatory bioethical framework based on the principle of autonomy. The goal is to help determine acceptable or unacceptable situations in the field of assisted reproduction. The project also seeks to offer tools to evaluate regulatory compliance of practices involving the use of artificial germ cells and future assisted reproduction technology.

Publications:

• Synthetic embryos: a new venue in ethical research
• The Ethics of Cellular Reprogramming
• Re-defining the human embryo
• A letter to the article “Whole Body Gestational Donation”
• Queering the genome: ethical challenges of epigenome editing in same-sex reproduction
• The ethics of synthetic DNA