D23 - [IN-PERSON/RECORDED] Chimeras, Who's responsibility Is it? IRB, IACUC, IBC, All of the Above?

This session will be offered in-person and recorded for on-demand access by in-person PRIMR23 attendees registered for this day, and PRIMR23/SBER23 Virtual Meeting registrants.

For decades, researchers have inserted different types of human cells into nonhuman animals at various stages of development to advance understanding of human biological processes and identify new investigational therapies. For almost as long as scientists have conducted this kind of research, there has been debate about whether it should take place and, if it does, how best to respond to the ethical and policy issues it raises. Particular public, academic, and policy attention has focused on these studies—often termed “chimera” research—that involve the transfer of human stem cells (or their direct derivatives) into nonhuman embryos or animals. These studies have raised questions about whether the moral status of the nonhuman animals is altered by the insertion of human stem cells, whether it is morally appropriate to cross species boundaries in this way, and whether chimeric studies should be subject to additional prohibitions or oversight.