Anne Le Goff

This research project focuses on the ethical issues raised by the emerging biotechnology of in vitro gametogenesis (IVG). IVG involves the production of eggs and sperm outside of the body from an individual’s skin cells using stem cell techniques. In addition to its promise for basic research, IVG represents a potential revolution in the field of assisted reproduction. As such, it constitutes an excellent case to study how novel reproductive biotechnologies may profoundly alter definitions of life, inheritance, parenthood, and filiation. Using the complementary tools of conceptual analysis, empirical inquiry, and interdisciplinary collaboration with life scientists, this project examines how IVG is reshaping concepts and norms about human and nonhuman reproductive life.

Moreover, a biotechnology such as IVG raises a major paradox: on the one hand, the stem cell science behind it is largely standardized at the global level; on the other hand, as an object of regulation, law, and public perception, it is highly specific to national and cultural contexts, and should be considered in a transnational manner. This project takes a comparative approach to IVG, between the United States and France, in order to identify and analyze the different ethical challenges that it poses. This research responds to calls for renewed critical thinking about scientific interventions on human and nonhuman life and reproduction, in order to address governance challenges at the national and global levels