人類胚胎幹細胞又被稱為「萬能細胞」。它能被培養為人類各種組織和器官的細胞，在醫學上具有巨大潛力，它可以被用來醫治一系列目前無法醫治的疾病像是帕金森氏症、阿茲海默氏症、心肌梗塞、糖尿病、各種癌症和免疫不全症等等許多疾病，因而受到各國的高度重視。許多科學家也認為，幹細胞的臨床應用，是人類在21世紀的最大科技成果之一，必將產生一種全新的治療技術，是對傳統醫療手段和醫療觀念的一場革命。然基於幹細胞科技所能帶來的龐大衝擊與商業利益，政府於此議題來自於政治與經濟的壓力強度將不免與日遽增，加上生物醫學科技的知識領域正急速地擴張至各個層面，未來生物醫學科技政策如何發展與治理的議題將考驗著各國政府。於此系絡下，本文以胚胎幹細胞研究為例，企圖發展一個生物醫學科技研發的治理架構，並運用此架構來探討目前的政策途徑。因此，本文將首先檢視國家所受到種種壓力的本質與於此所衍生出的生物科技研發治理議題。接著我們將分析管制生物科技的關鍵要素與其如何影響知識的生產與應用過程。最後，我們將以目前胚胎幹細胞研究在健康照護體系中的發展為例，作為對於生物醫學科技治理政策的思考探索。

Stem cell research offers unprecedented opportunities for developing new medical therapies for debilitating diseases and a new way to explore fundament questions of biomedical technology. However, given the diverse views held in society about the ethical and legal status, research on human embryonic stem cells is controversial. The controversy has encouraged provocative and conflicting claims both inside and outside the scientific community about the biomedical potential of the embryonic research, and given the intense political and economic pressures at play, further biomedical policy development will be required as the potential of this vibrant knowledge territory continues to expand. In this context, the purpose of this paper is to develop a framework for the analysis of biomedical technology governance and to apply it to the current policy approach in the case of embryonic stem cell research. In so doing, firstly, we examine the nature of the pressures upon the state and hence the problems which the governance of the field must address. Secondly, it analyses the key components of regulation in this arena and relates them to the process of knowledge production and application. Thirdly, it takes the particular area of embryonic stem cell research and healthcare system, and explores the likely path of governance policy therein and the dynamic driving the search for new frameworks of governance in biomedical technology.