Potentiality and human embryos

Area of Science:

• Bioethics
• Developmental Biology
• Philosophy of Medicine

Background:

• The concept of potentiality in human embryos is central to debates on abortion and embryonic stem cell research.
• The US President's Council on Bioethics previously called for a moratorium on stem cell research based on embryo potentiality.
• Existing views often define embryo potentiality irrespective of external developmental conditions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To critique the traditional concept of potentiality as applied to human embryos.
• To propose an empirically grounded alternative account of embryo potentiality.
• To assess the moral permissibility of experimenting on 'spare' frozen embryos.

Main Methods:

• Critique of the US President's Council on Bioethics' concept of potentiality.
• Development of an alternative, empirically grounded account of potentiality.
• Philosophical argumentation regarding moral status and embryo research.

Main Results:

• An embryo's potentiality is not solely determined by definition but is influenced by physical and decisional conditions.
• Some human embryos demonstrably lack the potential to develop personhood characteristics.
• This suggests certain human embryos may not possess the same moral status as others.

Conclusions:

• The traditional view of potentiality in human embryos requires re-evaluation.
• An empirically grounded approach reveals variability in embryo potentiality.
• Experimentation on 'spare' frozen embryos, which are destined for destruction, may be morally permissible.