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ReproSoc

Reproductive Sociology Research Group
 

We are excited to announce that the article “I6 passages: on the reproduction of a human embryonic stem cell line from Israel to France”, written by our Research Associate Noémie Merleau-Ponty, alongside Sigrid Vertommen & Michel Pucéat, has just been released and is available via open access.

This article has been published as part of the special issue of New Genetics and Society, “Biobanks and the reconfiguration of the living”, which has been co-edited Noémie Merleau-Ponty. The issue aims to shed light on the biotechnological manufacturing of the living in biobanks and the ways living is socialized. It explores the role of biobanks in the reconfigurations of the living, as they constitute a central place in the manufacture of biological resources.

 

I6 passages: on the reproduction of a human embryonic stem cell line from Israel to France

The first French clinical trial using human embryonic stem cells for regenerative purposes was launched in 2014, using the I6 stem cell line that was imported from Israel. From Israel to France, national reproductive policies and practices inform how basic scientists produce, manage and circulate cells across countries. Building on an interdisciplinary co-production involving two social scientists and a life scientist, this article suggests that biobanks passage cells from in vitro fertilization to stem cell science and from country to country by modifying their reproductive meaning. Four passages are described:

the absence of cells in 2005 when the research started in France; the presence of supernumerary embryos available for research in Israeli IVF biobanks; the production of the I6 stem cell bank in Israel; the importation and laboratory biobanking of the cells in France. Human embryonic stem cell lines can never be completely disentangled from reproduction.

This article has been published as part of the special issue of New Genetics and Society, “Biobanks and the reconfiguration of the living”, which has been co-edited Noémie Merleau-Ponty. The issue aims to shed light on the biotechnological manufacturing of the living in biobanks and the ways living is socialized. It explores the role of biobanks in the reconfigurations of the living, as they constitute a central place in the manufacture of biological resources.

 

Further articles that may be of interest for ReproScholars: 

Sandra Bärnreuther, Suitable substances: how biobanks (re)store biologicals. On IVF and biobanks in North India.

Risa Cromer, Saving Embryos in Stem Cell Science and Embryo Adoption. On IVF, Stem Cell Research and Biobanks in the USA link forthcoming

Also to be of interest:

Adrian Van Allen, Pinning beetles, biobanking futures: practices of archiving life in a time of extinction. On archiving specimens at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.

Fabien Milanovic & François Lefèvre, Biobanking in forestry practices: towards an agency policy? On the banking practices in the sector of forest genetic resources.

Jieun Kim, The specter of “bad blood” in Japanese blood banks. On blood donation in Japan.

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