ABSTRACT
The social commitment alongside an explicit engagement with ethics remains central to the Governance theme. The inability to see ahead or to control how 'good intentions' mutate over time does not provide an excuse for bad social architecture, or for rules and regulatory instruments which perpetuate inequality, injustice, increase stigma, entrench poverty or add to the sum of human suffering. Dr Jennifer Gunning articulates concern with the conservative-led coalition's proposals to abolish regulatory bodies who have played key roles in the governance of a wide range of activities in the context of human tissue. The panoply of ethical and legal issues they raise in the piece, the uncertainty in governance structures which currently exist to support UK stem cell banking is one which the chapter argues necessitates urgent investigation and analysis.
