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Proposal for embedded ethics, based on dynamic dialogue, to facilitate ethically responsible research with stem-cell-based embryo models.
To the point:
Embedded ethics in human stem-cell-based embryo model research: An interdisciplinary and international team of ethicists, lawyers, and scientists, including Jesse Veenvliet from the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics in Dresden, Germany, proposes an embedded ethics framework to facilitate responsible research and governance with human stem-cell-based embryo models. In that way, the field could move forward while maintaining public trust.
Continuous dialogue: Fast scientific developments in the field of human stem-cell-based embryo models pose a challenge to the slower, traditional approaches of ethics evaluation. Embedded ethics constitutes a dynamic, iterative, and integrative approach where scientists, ethicists, and regulators engage in continuous dialogue to ethically assess ongoing research. This could help ethical oversight to keep up with scientific progress.
Building trust and responsibility: An embedded ethics approach can build trust and serve as a public policy tool to ensure that research with human stem-cell-based embryo models serves both scientific and societal values. It can turn ethical reasoning into a shared, evolving tool that guides innovation while maintaining public trust in science, especially in sensitive areas.
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In science, ethical guidelines ensure that research takes place in a way that respects public trust and is conducted responsibly. Traditional ethics approval procedures work well for projects following established practices, but they offer little flexibility when unexpected challenges, novel approaches, unanticipated research directions, or unforeseen results arise. For research exploring uncharted ethical ground, such as studies with human stem-cell-based embryo models (hSCBEMs), conventional ethical approval approaches are therefore no longer suitable.
Human stem-cell-based embryo models (hSCBEMs) generated from pluripotent stem cells are a powerful new tool for studying early human development and advancing biomedical research. These models are becoming more complex with increasing similarity to real human embryos. The rapid advances in this field challenge the speed with which traditional ethical oversight bodies typically act and how fast law and regulation might adapt.
The key challenge is one central to all emerging pioneering technologies: that long-term societal impacts are still unknown, because we can’t anticipate all applications and consequences. For hSCBEM research, public trust is at stake if certain developments are perceived as ethically troubling, while premature or unnecessary strict regulation driven by speculative fears or concerns could put a hold on promising scientific progress before its biomedical benefits are realized. Finding the right balance by supporting innovation while being thoughtful about ethics and public trust is therefore essential.
In a recent article published in Nature Cell Biology, an international group of leading experts in stem-cell-based embryo models and their ethical and legal implications propose a new framework for integrating ethical evaluation directly into hSCBEM research. The publication was spearheaded by a European Innovation Council-supported Engineered Living Materials consortium including scientists from the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics (MPI-CBG) in Dresden, Germany, and the University of Oslo, Norway. Rather than treating ethical assessment as a ‘box-checking’ exercise or as an external judgment, the authors advocate for an embedded ethics approach. This ethics model takes the form of active society-facing discussions among researchers, ethicists, policymakers, and the public throughout the research process. Such embedded ethics approaches have been established for research fields of comparable high societal relevance and ethical sensitivity, such as Artificial intelligence (AI).
One of the lead and corresponding authors of the current article is Jesse Veenvliet, research group leader at the MPI-CBG, whose “Stembryogenesis” research group reconstructs development in a dish to understand how embryos build themselves. “Our embedded ethics framework benefits everyone involved. It helps ethicists and legal experts to learn about the science firsthand and understand the promises and limitations of the research. It helps researchers to navigate ethical questions and contribute their voice to policy and societal debates. For society, it ensures that pioneering research is conducted responsibly, building public trust while supporting an innovative and competitive, yet responsible, research ecosystem,” explains Jesse Veenvliet.
To foster scientifically strong and ethically responsible research with hSCBEMs, embedded ethics provides a flexible, ongoing framework for scientists, ethicists, and legal experts. Unlike traditional ethics approval procedures, it encourages early and open dialogue, helping to anticipate challenges, guide decision-making, and balance innovation with caution. Importantly, the proposed framework provides a practical way to operationalize the iterative, responsive oversight and approval process recommended in the newest International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) hSCBEM guidelines. By integrating continuous ethical reflection into the design and conduct of experiments, embedded ethics makes ethical reasoning transparent and shared to support responsible research, build public trust, and ensure that science can advance in line with societal values.
Dr. Jesse Veenvliet
veenvlie@mpi-cbg.de
Heidi Beate Bentzen, Maxence Gaillard, Iftach Nachman, Daniel Reumann, Nikolaj Gadegaard, Laurent David, Fredrik Lanner, Naomi Moris, Vincent Pasque, Nicolas Rivron, Berna Sozen,
Rosario Isasi, Stefan Krauss & Jesse V. Veenvliet: A guide to using embedded ethics in human stem-cell-based embryo model research. Nat Cell Biol (2026), doi: 10.1038/s41556-026-01909-9
A direct comparison of an embryo (left) and a stem-cell based embryo model representing the embryoni ...
Copyright: Jesse Veenvliet, MPI-CBG
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A direct comparison of an embryo (left) and a stem-cell based embryo model representing the embryoni ...
Copyright: Jesse Veenvliet, MPI-CBG
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