Stem Cell Rev. 2011 September; 7(3): 482–484. | PMCID: PMC3137773 |
Publishing SNP Genotypes of Human Embryonic Stem Cell Lines: Policy Statement of the International Stem Cell Forum Ethics Working Party
Bartha M. Knoppers,
1 Rosario Isasi,
2 Nissim Benvenisty,
3 Ock-Joo Kim,
4 Geoffrey Lomax,
5 Clive Morris,
6 Thomas H. Murray,
7 Eng Hin Lee,
8 Margery Perry,
9 Genevra Richardson,
10 Douglas Sipp,
11 Klaus Tanner,
12 Jan Wahlström,
13 Guido de Wert,
14 and Fanyi Zeng
151International Stem Cell Forum Ethics Working Party. Centre of Genomics and Policy, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Human Genetics McGill University, 740 Dr. Penfield Avenue, Rm 5214, Montreal, QC H3A 1A4 Canada
2International Stem Cell Forum Ethics Working Party. Centre of Genomics and Policy, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Human Genetics McGill University, 740 Dr. Penfield Avenue, Rm 5206, Montreal, QC H3A 1A4 Canada
3The Herbert Cohn Chair in Cancer Research, Stem Cell Unit, Institute of Life Sciences, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Givat-Ram, Jerusalem, 91904 Israel
4Department of Medical History and Medical Humanities, College of Medicine Seoul National University, Jongno-gu Yongun-dong 28, Seoul, 110-799 Korea
5California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, 210 King Street, San Francisco, CA 94107 USA
6National Health & Medical Research Council, GPO Box 1421, Canberra, ACT 2601 Australia
7The Hastings Center, 21 Malcolm Gordon Road, Garrison, NY 10524 USA
8Division of Graduate Medical Studies, Faculty of Medicine, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Block MD5, 12 Medical Drive, Kent Ridge, S(117598) Singapore
9JDRF, Lay Review Committee, P.O. Box 3382, Aspen, CO 81612 USA
10School of Law, King’s College, London Strand, London, WC2R 2LS UK
11Riken Center for Developmental Biology, Science Policy and Ethics Studies Unit, 2-2-3 Minatojima-minamimachi, Chuo-ku Kobe, 650-0047 Japan
12Wissenschaftlich-Theologisches Seminar, Heidelberg University, Kisselgasse 1, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany
13Department of Medical Genetics, University of Gothenburg, Klinisk genetic SU/Sahlgrenska, 413 45 Göteborg, Sweden
14Department of Health, Ethics and Society, Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, Maastricht University, P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands
15Shanghai Institute of Medical Genetics, Shanghai Stem Cell Institute, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, 280 S. ChongQing Road. Bldg 5, Room 707, Shanghai, 200025 People’s Republic of China
The International Stem Cell Initiative (ISCI) [
1]—launched under the auspices of the International Stem Cell Forum (ISCF) [
2]—is a worldwide collaborative effort to establish basic criteria and techniques to underpin the development of applications for hESC in human medicine. The Initiative has collected comprehensive background information on individual cell lines (e. g. derivation and maintenance conditions) in order to systematically study hESC in an effort to establish international standards for characterization. The data from ISCI form the basis for the ISCI Human ES Cell Registry [
3]. It is used as a reference in other stem cell registries such as the European hESCreg.
The ISCI is characterizing genotypically different hESC lines isolates using high density Illumina BeadArrays to interrogate the samples for a range of genomic features. The particular BeadArray chosen is the HUMAN 1M-DUO v3. The 1M-DUO array provides a very high coverage of genome markers in general and in particular single nucleotide polymophisms (SNP’s). This high density coverage means that very detailed information about a cell line’s genotype will be gathered, and by implication also about the donors of the gametes or of other cells that gave rise to the cell lines.
In contrast to the genotype of cell lines derived from a single donor, the genotype of a hES cell does not correspond directly to the genotype of the individuals who donated the embryo from which the hES cell line was derived. There is effectively no possibility of donor identification based solely upon the genotype of a hESC line, and hence, the genotype of the embryo from which it was derived. Nevertheless, it may still be possible to infer some genomic information about the gamete donors. Under remote circumstances and solely when additional information is available regarding the donation (e.g. date, place of embryo donation together with information about the genotype of the donor) might it be possible to identify a donor.
For the immediate purposes of the ISCI study, it is not necessary to identify the genotypes of individual cell lines, but rather to present conclusions derived from aggregating the individual data. However, upon completion of the project, the International Stem Cell Initiative (ISCI) will be in possession of scientifically useful information about the genotypes of the individual cell lines which could be published in the scientific literature and may be lodged in the ISCI Human ES Cell Registry.
Novel methods and associated tools—such as the ones described above -permitting individual identification in publicly accessible SNP databases have become a debatable issue [
4,
5]. There is concern that established safeguards to protect the identities of donors could be insufficient [
6]. In the context of stem cell research, however, there are no studies focusing on the probability that similar methods and tools could be used to identify a hES cell line donor by analyzing published SNP profiles and associated phenotypic information.
It is the sense of the EWP that the likelihood of revealing donor identity is remote. While revealing donor identity is improbable, potential donors should be made aware that genotypic data may be in the public domain. However, in an area of research moving toward therapies and where donors of embryos provided hES cells under conditions of anonymity, a proportional approach to privacy requires examining the probability of identifiability as well as the balancing of risks and benefits. As stated by the Data Protection Working Party of the European Commission, Opinion 4/2007:
“... a mere hypothetical possibility to single out the individual is not enough to consider the person as “identifiable”. If, taking into account “
all the means likely reasonably to be used either by the controller or by any other person” that possibility does not exist or is negligible, the person should not be considered as “identifiable” and the information would not be considered as “personal data” [
7].
Thus, it is the view of the EWP that already existing hESC lines should be placed in open access databases if in the opinion of their curator there is no reason to believe that such data should not be made public, and that their publication complies with both the donor’s original informed consent and with national regulations.
The overall aim of the International Stem Cell Forum is to promote global good practices through collaboration in stem cell research. While recognizing ethical and legal constraints, the ISCF supports the sharing of data with the international community to accelerate progress in this vitally important area of biomedical science. The ISCF is respectful of the privacy of the individuals who contribute to the advancement of the field via the donation of their biological materials. To achieve these aims, while respecting fundamental bioethical principles such as beneficence, justice and research merit and integrity, the ISCF EWP recommends the following policy:
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