Defining "research" in the US and EU: contrast of Sherley v. Sebelius and Brüstle v. Greenpeace rulings.

In 2011, courts in both the United States and European Union handed down decisions related to human embryonic stem cell (hESC) research. In both cases, the definition of research was challenged - but the two courts reached different opinions. In the US case, Sherley v.

The procurement of cells for the derivation of human embryonic stem cell lines for therapeutic use: recommendations for good practice.

The donation of human embryos for the derivation of embryonic stem cell lines that may be used in the development of therapeutic products raises more complex ethical, practical and regulatory problems than the donation of embryos for non-clinical research. This review considers these issues and offers recommendations for good practice.

Provision and quality assurance of preimplantation genetic diagnosis in Europe.

Preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) is now well established and provided in many European countries. However, regulations, professional standards and accreditation requirements can differ notably. Furthermore, no comprehensive independent data exist either about practice and provision in Europe or about the quality assurance practices and procedures designed to optimize the quality of the results.

Legal issues to address when managing clinical information across Europe: the ECIT case study (www.ECIT.info).

This paper identifies issues which will need to be addressed in pursuing the aims and objectives of the European Classification of Infertility Taskforce (ECIT), namely: to establish classification codes for infertility management; to improve the consistency of infertility information collection by specialist centres, particularly but not exclusively by computerised systems; to use these codes to enable the transfer of infertility information from specialist centres to national infertility data registries; to develop a Grid linking the data held in European infertility data registries; to use Grid processing to mine the data in the European infertility data registries to optimise patient management improving the effectiveness of treatment and reducing the risk.

European Classification of Infertility Taskforce (ECIT) response to Habbema et al., 'Towards less confusing terminology in reproductive medicine: a proposal'.

The European Classification of Infertility Taskforce (ECIT) has been formed by ESHRE to develop a set of infertility-related codes (descriptions, interventions and outcomes) appropriate for computerization (http://www.ecit.info).