University of Alberta Faculty of Law Assistant Professor Ubaka Ogbogu has been researching stem cells for more than a decade, and now, with the help of an impact grant from the Stem Cell Network, he seeks to prove just how important that type of research is.
"Stem cell research is an area that has a huge potential to benefit Canadians in a variety of ways," he said, adding that stem cells have had significant impacts on medicine and health and the treatment of disease in Canada.
Prof. Ogbogu's latest research project - Regulating the future: model policies for emerging stem cell research activities, including research on gene-edited and reconstituted embryos - centres on 2004's Assisted Human Reproduction Act, which outlines prohibited and controlled reproductive technologies and related research.
"The Act was created with the knowledge of what existed at the time," said Prof. Ogbogu, adding that since then, there have been major advances in assisted reproduction and related technologies.
Prof. Ogbogu plans to look at two such advances developed after the Act's inception: gene editing and the reconstitution of embryos, also known as embryo patterning.
Gene editing is the process of inserting, replacing, or deleting DNA in the genome of a living organism, such as an embryo. This type of technology can be used to alter the genetic makeup of a person, including changing their eye colour, height, and body type.
Embryo patterning is a process whereby scientists manipulate pluripotent stem cells in a petri-dish such that they form structures that resemble a post-implantation embryo.
Prof. Ogbogu seeks to answer two questions in his research: one, are the new technologies governed by the Act, and if so, in what way(s); and two, if they are governed restrictively, is there rationale to maintain the Act and apply it to new technologies?
In the first stage of the research, Prof. Ogbogu, co-investigator Amy Zarzeczny (Associate Professor in the Graduate School of Public Policy, University of Regina, and Fellow, Health Law Institute, University of Alberta) and research student Yasmeen Jaafer will review scientific databases to identify and characterize stem cell technologies developed since 2004. This will be followed by an ethical and legal analysis aimed at establishing how the identified technologies are governed under Canadian law.
In May 2017, Prof. Ogbogu is also hosting a workshop - expected to be in Banff or Toronto - where academics, policymakers, and patients from across Canada will gather to discuss and formulate model policies on how emerging stem cell technologies should be governed in Canada. Representatives from Health Canada, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Wellcome Trust in the UK, and organizations from the EU are expected to attend.
"The goal [of the workshop] is to produce model policy that would apply across Canada," he said, adding that if everyone is in agreement, the group could also recommend to keep things the way they are.
In preparation for the workshop, Prof. Ogbogu and Ms. Jaafer are preparing policy briefs that will be distributed in advance to workshop participants.
"The brief will be sent to everyone so they're coming in to the workshop with the same baseline of information," he said, acknowledging that there will be opposing views in the room.
With 12 years of technological changes to review and debate, one can expect a full agenda.