Exploring the ethical and policy challenges of transnational stem cell science
In early 2004, members of the Stem Cell Policy and Ethics Program (SCOPE) at the The Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics began developing a new project, aspiring to bring together an esteemed, international and interdisciplinary group to explore the ethical and policy challenges of transnational scientific collaboration raised by variations in national regulations governing embryo research and stem cell science. While this project was originally planned as a single meeting in Hinxton, UK, the delegates, calling themselves the ‘Hinxton Group’, decided that there were additional challenges they would be able and willing to address, and that this group should not dissolve. Coordinated by a US/UK steering committee, the Hinxton Group is an informal collection of individuals interested in ethical and well-regulated science.