[Ethical reflections on cell reprogramming].

New advances in cell reprogramming, and particularly in obtaining iPS cells, have represented a promising possibility for avoiding the use of human embryonic cells in experimental research and clinical medicine, use which is ethically unacceptable, as obtaining these cells requires the destruction of human embryos. The road travelled to arrive at the discovery of iPS cells, and especially the ethical assessment of each of the steps taken to that end, are evaluated in this paper. The ethical judgement merited by the various uses that can be made of iPS cells is also examined, because just when it seemed that iPS cells could resolve the ethical problems inherent to the use of embryonic stem cells, new possibilities for using iPS cells, especially related with human reproduction, have opened up expectations for using these cells that are far removed from the most fundamental ethical standards.

Umbilical cord blood banks. Ethical aspects. Public versus private banks.

The creation of umbilical cord blood (UCB) banks raises interesting medical, social, economic and ethical issues. This paper reviews the ethical problems specifically. In this respect, it evaluates: a) whether there are advantages to the use of UCB compared to bone marrow, b) whether or not it is ethical to create UCB banks, c) whether their creation is ethically acceptable in terms of their clinical usefulness or d) the use made of them for therapeutic purposes, and finally e) whether their creation is ethically justified from a cost/profitability point of view.