Public Attitudes in Japan Toward the Creation and use of Gametes Derived from Human-Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells

Figures & data

Figure 1. Process of creating and using human-induced pluripotent stem cells-derived sperm/ova.

hiPSCs: Human-induced pluripotent stem cells.

Table 1. The demographic characteristics of the respondents (n = 3096).

	n	%
Sex
Male	1533	49.5
Female	1563	50.5
Age (years)
20–29	419	13.5
30–39	525	17.0
40–49	593	19.2
50–59	507	16.4
60–69	597	19.3
70–79	455	14.7
Marital status
Yes, I am married	2066	66.7
No, I am not married	1030	33.3
Presence or absence of children
Yes, I have children	1871	60.4
No, I do not have children	1225	39.6
Experience of infertility treatment
No	2772	89.5
Yes	261	8.4
I do not want to answer	63	2.0
Educational background
Elementary school	4	0.1
Junior high school	75	2.4
High school	1041	33.6
Technical college	351	11.3
Two-year college	327	10.6
Four-year college	1159	37.4
Postgraduate studies (master’s degree)	105	3.4
Postgraduate studies (doctorate)	23	0.7
Other	11	0.4
Personal income (yen/year)
Less than two million	1175	38
Two to four million	698	22.5
Four to six million	410	13.2
Six to eight million	185	6.0
Eight to ten million	66	2.1
Ten to twelve million	33	1.1
Twelve to fifty million	7	0.2
Fifty to twenty million	6	0.2
Over twenty million	7	0.2
I do not know	195	6.3
I do not want to answer	314	10.1
Religious affiliation
No, I do not have a religious affiliation	2646	85.5
Yes, I have a religious affiliation	313	10.1
I do not want to answer	137	4.4
How much did you know about iPSCs?
I knew enough about them to be able to provide an explanation to a certain extent	607	19.6
I had only heard a bit about them	2267	73.2
I was not aware of them	222	7.2
Are you interested in iPSCs?
Yes, I am interested	2220	71.7
No, I am not interested	876	28.3
How much did you know about the ‘research for creating sperm/ova from hiPSCs’?
I knew enough about it to be able to provide an explanation to a certain extent	212	6.8
I had only heard a bit about it	1322	42.7
I was not aware of it	1562	50.5
How much did you understand the explanation on ‘the creation and use of hiPSC-derived sperm/ova’?
I fully understood it	128	4.1
I mostly understood it	2101	67.9
I could not understand it very well	743	24.0
I could not understand it at all	124	4.0

hiPSC: Human-induced pluripotent stem cell; iPSC: Induced pluripotent stem cell.

Figure 2. Expectations regarding the creation and use of human-induced pluripotent stem cell-derived sperm/ova.

Figure 3. Concerns regarding the creation and use of human-induced pluripotent stem cell-derived sperm/ova.

Figure 4. Degree of acceptance regarding the creation and use of human-induced pluripotent stem cell-derived sperm/ova.

Table 2. Relationship between the iterative acceptance and demographic characteristics of the respondents.

Demographic characteristics	Simple regression analysis ^†						Multiple regression analysis ^† ^, ^‡
	β	95% CI		t	p-value	R^2	β	95% CI		t	p-value	VIF ^§
		LL	UL					LL	UL
Sex	0.056	0.045	0.199	3.112	0.002	0.003	0.066	0.059	0.228	3.335	0.001	1.1
Age	-0.155	-0.013	-0.008	-8.744	0.000	0.024	-0.164	-0.014	-0.008	-7.649	0.000	1.3
Marital status	-0.077	-0.260	-0.097	-4.300	0.000	0.006	-0.041	-0.204	0.014	-1.716	0.086	1.6
Personal income	0.038	0.000	0.066	1.944	0.052	0.001	0.028	-0.008	0.056	1.475	0.140	1.0
Awareness of iPSCs	0.135	0.217	0.369	7.565	0.000	0.018	0.002	-0.093	0.101	0.090	0.929	1.4
Interest in iPSCs	0.190	0.377	0.545	10.780	0.000	0.036	0.139	0.236	0.442	6.457	0.000	1.3
Awareness of AG research	0.079	0.078	0.202	4.424	0.000	0.006	-0.029	-0.127	0.022	-1.382	0.167	1.3
Understanding of the explanation	0.270	0.428	0.551	15.623	0.000	0.073	0.231	0.341	0.500	10.384	0.000	1.4
Educational background	0.040	0.004	0.057	2.250	0.025	0.002	-0.029	-0.051	0.007	-1.464	0.143	1.1
Religious affiliation	0.023	-0.044	0.210	1.278	0.201	0.001	0.029	-0.031	0.243	1.522	0.128	1.0
Children	-0.085	-0.269	-0.112	-4.772	0.000	0.007	-0.019	-0.150	0.063	-0.799	0.425	1.6
Experience of infertility treatment	0.027	-0.032	0.245	1.512	0.131	0.001	0.006	-0.129	0.173	0.292	0.770	1.0

† Respondents who chose ‘I do not want to answer’ for their religious affiliation and their experience of infertility treatment and those who chose ‘I do not know’ or ‘N/A’ for their annual income were excluded from the analyses of the respective demographic characteristics.

‡ The adjusted coefficient of determination, R² _adj = 0.119.

§ For multiple regression analysis, all explanatory variables were entered using the forced entry method.

β: Standardised partial regression coefficient; iPSC: Induced pluripotent stem cell; LL: Lower limit; R²: The coefficient of determination; UL: Upper limit; VIF: Variance inflation factor.

Table 3. Relationship between the iterative acceptance and the expectations.

Expectations	Simple regression analysis ^†						Multiple regression analysis ^† ^, ^‡
	β	95% CI		t	p-value	R^2	β	95% CI		t	p-value	VIF ^§
		LL	UL					LL	UL
Elucidation of the mechanism of embryonic development	0.237	0.352	0.471	13.544	0.000	0.056	0.009	-0.057	0.087	0.406	0.685	1.7
Elucidation of the etiology of infertility	0.303	0.453	0.566	17.697	0.000	0.092	0.036	-0.040	0.160	1.186	0.236	3.5
Development of therapeutic modalities and drugs for infertility	0.315	0.453	0.560	18.477	0.000	0.099	0.062	0.003	0.195	2.030	0.042	3.5
Elucidation of the etiology of congenital diseases	0.250	0.349	0.459	14.387	0.000	0.063	-0.018	-0.126	0.067	-0.596	0.551	3.5
Development of therapeutic modalities and drugs for congenital diseases	0.269	0.367	0.473	15.510	0.000	0.072	0.074	0.022	0.208	2.416	0.016	3.5
Availability of gametes for research	0.296	0.395	0.496	17.237	0.000	0.088	-0.023	-0.155	0.085	-0.578	0.564	6.3
Availability of embryos for research	0.305	0.411	0.513	17.802	0.000	0.093	0.032	-0.075	0.172	0.765	0.444	6.6
Birth of genetically related children	0.379	0.461	0.547	22.768	0.000	0.144	0.153	0.138	0.268	6.137	0.000	2.3
Availability of gametes for reproduction	0.364	0.479	0.574	21.746	0.000	0.133	0.029	-0.083	0.167	0.657	0.511	7.3
Availability of embryos for reproduction	0.366	0.483	0.578	21.893	0.000	0.134	0.082	-0.005	0.242	1.888	0.059	7.1
Reduction in genetic diseases	0.333	0.401	0.490	19.651	0.000	0.111	0.078	0.045	0.163	3.429	0.001	2.0
Designer babies	0.224	0.233	0.318	12.758	0.000	0.050	0.058	0.027	0.117	3.106	0.002	1.3

† Among the items of expectations, ‘Others’ was excluded from analysis.

‡ The adjusted coefficient of determination, R² _adj = 0.185.

§ For multiple regression analysis, all explanatory variables were entered using the forced entry method.

β: Standardized partial regression coefficient; LL: Lower limit; R²: The coefficient of determination; UL: Upper limit; VIF: Variance inflation factor.

Table 4. Relationship between the iterative acceptance and the concerns.

Expectations	Simple regression analysis ^†						Multiple regression analysis ^† ^, ^‡
	β	95% CI		t	p-value	R^2	β	95% CI		t	p-value	VIF ^§
		LL	UL					LL	UL
Unnaturalness	-0.371	-0.594	-0.498	-22.232	0.000	0.138	-0.226	-0.296	-0.156	-6.324	0.000	2.3
Playing God	-0.373	-0.529	-0.443	-22.338	0.000	0.139	-0.115	-0.178	-0.052	-3.597	0.000	2.3
Infringement of human dignity	-0.403	-0.605	-0.515	-24.481	0.000	0.162	-0.230	-0.307	-0.154	-5.880	0.000	3.1
Loss of values	-0.362	-0.563	-0.469	-21.584	0.000	0.131	-0.125	-0.198	-0.051	-3.328	0.001	2.7
Social turmoil	-0.253	-0.408	-0.311	-14.566	0.000	0.064	0.016	-0.045	0.078	0.515	0.607	1.9
Commercialization of reproductive medicine	-0.234	-0.372	-0.277	-13.415	0.000	0.055	-0.004	-0.074	0.066	-0.123	0.902	2.6
Loss of genetic diversity	-0.232	-0.375	-0.278	-13.265	0.000	0.054	0.034	-0.038	0.106	0.928	0.353	2.6
Unknown risk to children	-0.170	-0.301	-0.199	-9.624	0.000	0.029	0.114	0.043	0.185	3.159	0.002	2.4
Infringement of identity	-0.246	-0.405	-0.306	-14.100	0.000	0.060	-0.026	-0.097	0.045	-0.719	0.472	2.4
Unknown risk to future generations	-0.232	-0.390	-0.290	-13.269	0.000	0.054	-0.020	-0.095	0.054	-0.536	0.592	2.6
Use of gametes as tools	-0.231	-0.366	-0.271	-13.188	0.000	0.053	0.013	-0.093	0.119	0.246	0.806	5.9
Use of embryos as tools	-0.234	-0.373	-0.277	-13.373	0.000	0.055	0.050	-0.060	0.159	0.883	0.377	6.3
Promotion of embryo destruction	-0.298	-0.478	-0.381	-17.378	0.000	0.089	-0.130	-0.201	-0.058	-3.555	0.000	2.5
Pressure on parents	-0.281	-0.445	-0.349	-16.284	0.000	0.079	-0.137	-0.199	-0.075	-4.349	0.000	1.9
Limited access to reproduction	-0.150	-0.248	-0.155	-8.430	0.000	0.022	0.057	0.002	0.112	2.014	0.044	1.7
Designer babies	-0.175	-0.276	-0.185	-9.889	0.000	0.031	0.029	-0.027	0.086	1.012	0.312	1.9

† Among the items of concerns, ‘Others’ was excluded from analysis.

‡ The coefficient adjusted of determination, R² _adj = 0.204.

§ For multiple regression analysis, all explanatory variables were entered using the forced entry method.

β: Standardized partial regression coefficient; LL: Lower limit; R²: The coefficient of determination; UL: Upper limit; VIF: Variance inflation factor.

Table 5. Demographics characteristics of the respondents who do not accept the creation and use of artificial gametes at all.

Demographic characteristics	Univariate binomial logistic regression analysis ^†									Multivariate binomial logistic regression analysis ^† ^, ^‡
	B	SE B	Wald	OR	95% CI		df	p-value	R^2	B	SE B	Wald	OR	95% CI		df	p-value
					LL	UL								LL	UL
Sex	-0.175	0.088	3.976	0.839	0.707	0.997	1	0.046	0.001	-0.197	0.114	2.998	0.821	0.657	1.026	1	0.083
Age	0.018	0.003	41.265	1.018	1.013	1.024	1	0.000	0.013	0.028	0.004	50.291	1.029	1.021	1.037	1	0.000
Marital status	0.166	0.095	3.082	1.181	0.981	1.421	1	0.079	0.001	0.131	0.146	0.809	1.140	0.857	1.517	1	0.368
Personal income	-0.073	0.040	3.376	0.930	0.860	1.005	1	0.066	0.001	-0.068	0.046	2.198	0.934	0.853	1.022	1	0.138
Awareness of iPSCs	-0.887	0.095	87.707	0.412	0.342	0.496	1	0.000	0.029	-0.174	0.135	1.664	0.840	0.645	1.094	1	0.197
Interest in iPSCs	-1.202	0.092	172.567	0.300	0.251	0.360	1	0.000	0.053	-0.966	0.128	56.643	0.381	0.296	0.489	1	0.000
Awareness of AG research	-0.305	0.074	17.006	0.737	0.638	0.852	1	0.000	0.005	0.229	0.107	4.600	1.257	1.020	1.550	1	0.032
Understanding of the explanation	-1.259	0.074	287.029	0.284	0.245	0.329	1	0.000	0.097	-1.080	0.100	116.520	0.340	0.279	0.413	1	0.000
Educational background	-0.150	0.030	24.277	0.861	0.811	0.914	1	0.000	0.008	-0.038	0.040	0.906	0.963	0.891	1.041	1	0.341
Religious affiliation	-0.221	0.156	2.016	0.801	0.590	1.088	1	0.156	0.001	-0.291	0.197	2.194	0.747	0.508	1.099	1	0.139
Children	0.242	0.091	7.067	1.274	1.066	1.524	1	0.008	0.002	0.007	0.144	0.002	1.007	0.760	1.334	1	0.963
Experience of infertility treatment	-0.414	0.178	5.421	0.661	0.466	0.937	1	0.020	0.002	-0.250	0.225	1.240	0.779	0.501	1.210	1	0.265

† Among the items of demographic characteristics, ‘I do not want to answer’ in religious affiliation and experience of infertility treatment was excluded from analysis. In addition, ‘I do not know’ or ‘I do not want to answer’ were also excluded from analysis.

‡ The coefficients of determination, Cox-Snell R² = 0.142, R² = 0.150, Nagelkerke R² = 0.222.

B: Partial regression coefficient; iPSC: Induced pluripotent stem cell; LL: Lower limit; OR: Odds ratio; R²: The coefficients of determination; UL: Upper limit.

Table 6. Expectations of the respondents who do not accept the creation and use of artificial gametes at all.

Expectations	Univariate binomial logistic regression analysis ^†									Multivariate binomial logistic regression analysis ^† ^, ^‡
	B	SE B	Wald	OR	95% CI		df	p-value	R^2	B	SE B	Wald	OR	95% CI		df	p-value
					LL	UL								LL	UL
Elucidation of the mechanism of embryonic development	-0.919	0.071	168.767	0.399	0.347	0.458	1	0.000	0.055	-0.111	0.096	1.324	0.895	0.741	1.081	1	0.250
Elucidation of the etiology of infertility	-1.133	0.073	238.223	0.322	0.279	0.372	1	0.000	0.085	-0.097	0.135	0.522	0.907	0.697	1.181	1	0.470
Development of therapeutic modalities and drugs for infertility	-1.152	0.071	262.765	0.316	0.275	0.363	1	0.000	0.095	-0.315	0.129	5.996	0.730	0.567	0.939	1	0.014
Elucidation of the etiology of congenital diseases	-0.982	0.068	206.622	0.375	0.328	0.428	1	0.000	0.071	-0.065	0.129	0.255	0.937	0.727	1.207	1	0.614
Development of therapeutic modalities and drugs for congenital diseases	-0.999	0.066	230.123	0.368	0.324	0.419	1	0.000	0.080	-0.335	0.123	7.429	0.716	0.562	0.910	1	0.006
Availability of gametes for research	-0.870	0.064	187.510	0.419	0.370	0.475	1	0.000	0.062	0.123	0.163	0.569	1.131	0.822	1.555	1	0.451
Availability of embryos for research	-0.912	0.064	199.882	0.402	0.354	0.456	1	0.000	0.067	-0.204	0.166	1.509	0.815	0.588	1.129	1	0.219
Birth of genetically related children	-0.904	0.057	249.508	0.405	0.362	0.453	1	0.000	0.085	-0.243	0.088	7.649	0.784	0.660	0.932	1	0.006
Availability of gametes for reproduction	-1.017	0.063	259.741	0.362	0.320	0.409	1	0.000	0.090	-0.190	0.165	1.330	0.827	0.599	1.142	1	0.249
Availability of embryos for reproduction	-1.019	0.063	261.056	0.361	0.319	0.408	1	0.000	0.090	-0.277	0.162	2.922	0.758	0.552	1.041	1	0.087
Reduction in genetic diseases	-0.813	0.056	212.001	0.443	0.397	0.495	1	0.000	0.071	-0.154	0.081	3.655	0.857	0.732	1.004	1	0.056
Designer babies	-0.314	0.052	35.796	0.731	0.659	0.810	1	0.000	0.012	0.139	0.069	4.112	1.149	1.005	1.314	1	0.043

† Among the items of expectations, ‘Others’ was excluded from analysis.

‡ The coefficients of determination, Cox-Snell R² = 0.139, R² = 0.143, Nagelkerke R² = 0.214.

B: Partial regression coefficient; LL: Lower limit; OR: Odds ratio; R²: The coefficients of determination; UL: Upper limit.

Table 7. Concerns of the respondents who do not accept the creation and use of artificial gametes at all.

Concerns	Univariate binomial logistic regression analysis ^†									Multivariate binomial logistic regression analysis ^† ^, ^‡
	B	SE B	Wald	OR	95% CI		df	p-value	R^2	B	SE B	Wald	OR	95% CI		df	p-value
					LL	UL								LL	UL
Unnaturalness	0.881	0.069	161.691	2.414	2.107	2.765	1	0.000	0.057	0.472	0.102	21.442	1.604	1.313	1.959	1	0.000
Playing God	0.801	0.059	185.761	2.227	1.985	2.499	1	0.000	0.064	0.228	0.086	6.984	1.256	1.061	1.488	1	0.008
Infringement of human dignity	0.896	0.063	201.337	2.450	2.165	2.773	1	0.000	0.070	0.415	0.109	14.662	1.515	1.225	1.874	1	0.000
Loss of values	0.828	0.064	167.733	2.288	2.018	2.593	1	0.000	0.058	0.341	0.105	10.604	1.407	1.146	1.728	1	0.001
Social turmoil	0.527	0.060	76.375	1.693	1.505	1.906	1	0.000	0.025	-0.025	0.090	0.076	0.975	0.818	1.164	1	0.783
Commercialization of reproductive medicine	0.346	0.058	35.255	1.414	1.261	1.585	1	0.000	0.011	-0.134	0.102	1.707	0.875	0.716	1.069	1	0.191
Loss of genetic diversity	0.377	0.060	40.189	1.458	1.298	1.639	1	0.000	0.013	-0.058	0.107	0.298	0.943	0.765	1.163	1	0.585
Unknown risk to children	0.247	0.061	16.349	1.280	1.136	1.442	1	0.000	0.005	-0.300	0.104	8.256	0.741	0.604	0.909	1	0.004
Infringement of identity	0.436	0.061	50.660	1.547	1.372	1.744	1	0.000	0.016	-0.018	0.105	0.029	0.982	0.799	1.208	1	0.866
Unknown risk to future generations	0.424	0.062	46.427	1.529	1.353	1.727	1	0.000	0.015	0.054	0.112	0.234	1.056	0.848	1.314	1	0.628
Use of gametes as tools	0.314	0.058	29.353	1.369	1.222	1.534	1	0.000	0.009	-0.215	0.146	2.177	0.806	0.606	1.073	1	0.140
Use of embryos as tools	0.359	0.059	37.302	1.432	1.276	1.607	1	0.000	0.012	-0.124	0.155	0.645	0.883	0.652	1.196	1	0.422
Promotion of embryo destruction	0.682	0.063	118.247	1.978	1.749	2.236	1	0.000	0.040	0.439	0.109	16.317	1.551	1.254	1.919	1	0.000
Pressure on parents	0.700	0.061	133.907	2.014	1.789	2.268	1	0.000	0.044	0.430	0.089	23.311	1.537	1.291	1.830	1	0.000
Limited access to reproduction	0.275	0.055	24.523	1.316	1.181	1.467	1	0.000	0.008	-0.056	0.081	0.466	0.946	0.806	1.110	1	0.495
Designer babies	0.130	0.054	5.818	1.139	1.025	1.265	1	0.016	0.002	-0.363	0.083	19.314	0.696	0.592	0.818	1	0.000

† Among the items of concerns, ‘Others’ was excluded from analysis.

‡ The coefficients of determination, Cox-Snell R² = 0.120, R² = 0.123, Nagelkerke R² = 0.185.

B: Partial regression coefficient; LL: Lower limit; OR: Odds ratio; R²: The coefficients of determination; UL: Upper limit.