Investigating the feasibility and ethical implications of phenotypic screening using stem cell-derived tissue models to detect and manage disease

Abstract

Stem-cell-derived tissue models generated from sick people are being used to understand human development and disease, drug development, and drug screening. However, it is possible to detect disease phenotypes before a patient displays symptoms, allowing for their use as a disease screening tool. This raises numerous issues, some of which can be addressed using similar approaches from genetic screenings, while others are unique. One issue is the relationship between disease disposition, biomarker detection, and patient symptoms and how tissue models could be used to define disease. Other issues include decisions of when to screen, what diseases to screen for, and what treatment options should be offered.

Keywords: disease definition; ethics; phenotype; prenatal; stem cell; tissue model.