November 30, 2007
More trouble in Proposition 71-Land: The California State Controller–in what I must say is a gutsy move given the politics of the matter–has ordered an audit of the CIRM citing charges of conflict of interest. From the story: California’s top … Read More
November 30, 2007
Roger Highfield reports that the alternative to cloning continues to show promise. Skin cells from the face of 36 year old woman have been converted into her own embryonic like cells directly, in experiments that bring closer the day that … Read More
November 30, 2007
Remember biology class where you learned that children inherit one copy of a gene from mom and a second from dad? There’s a twist: Some of those genes arrive switched off, so there is no backup if the other copy … Read More
November 30, 2007
Charles Krauthammer, the Washington Post columnist who favored ESCR funding but also saw that the scientists would never be satisfied with being limited to leftover embryos, has a column on the great iPSC breakthrough. He writes (prematurely in my view) … Read More
November 30, 2007
A massive AI project called CALO could revolutionize machine learning. (Technology Review)
November 30, 2007
Scientists have reversed the effects of ageing on the skin of mice by blocking the action of a specific protein. (BBC)
November 30, 2007
Meyer decided Wednesday to allow 14-year-old Dennis Lindberg of Mount Vernon to refuse blood transfusions — based on his religious beliefs — in his fight against leukemia. Lindberg died later that evening. (Seattle Times)
November 30, 2007
American scientists are using tissue from aborted babies in genetically engineered mice to study how certain diseases are spread, and the experiments are being paid for with U.S. tax dollars. (CNS News)
November 30, 2007
When the industrial revolution of the early 19th century threatened the centuries-old caste of the English artisans by replacing man with machine, they rose up, allegedly led by a man named Ned Ludd, in protest. To protect their way of … Read More
November 30, 2007
A decade ago, Thomson was the first to isolate human embryonic stem cells. Last week, he (and Japan’s Shinya Yamanaka) announced one of the great scientific breakthroughs since the discovery of DNA: an embryo-free way to produce genetically matched stem … Read More
November 29, 2007
I have this theory, which as I have said previously, isn’t even that–at best a notion or a wisp of a thought–that anyone seriously involved with human cloning will have it turn to dust in his or her hands. And … Read More
November 29, 2007
Japan’s premier robot event offers visitors the chance to find a high-tech ping-pong opponent, see an android dental patient twitch in pain, and to nurse baby robots in the same afternoon. (New Scientist)
November 29, 2007
Suppose that instead of looking at health care policy as a means to push an ideology or score political points, we examine it from a pragmatic American vantage point. What works? What does not work? What backfires? Those are the … Read More
November 29, 2007
A novel group of drugs that target a gene linked to longevity could provide a way to turn back the clock on the diseases of aging. The compounds are 1,000 times more potent than resveratrol, the molecule thought to underlie … Read More
November 29, 2007
Fifty-four nursing homes are being told by the government that they’re among the worst in their states in an effort to goad them into improving patient care. (AP)
November 29, 2007
The top item on prime-time television news in Germany on 21 November featured a statement from research minister Annette Schavan. She was responding to the publication of two studies in which scientists had reprogammed mature adult human cells to behave … Read More
November 29, 2007
California’s top financial officer Tuesday ordered a top-to-bottom audit of the state’s $3 billion stem cell institute, in the wake of reports that its chairman and one of its directors were involved in a violation of the agency’s conflict-of-interest policy. … Read More
November 29, 2007
No one is happier than I am about the latest development in stem-cell research. Scientists in Japan and Wisconsin have independently figured out how to turn ordinary human-skin cells into something like pluripotent stem cells. These are the cells that … Read More
November 29, 2007
Last week was a busy one for stem cell research. But amid the coverage of major technical advances, an all-too-predictable scandal erupted in California’s stem cell program. The details reveal improper and potentially illegal influence on the allocation of public … Read More
November 28, 2007
An ambitious project to create an accurate computer model of the brain has reached an impressive milestone. Scientists in Switzerland working with IBM researchers have shown that their computer simulation of the neocortical column, arguably the most complex part of … Read More
November 28, 2007
Just because I am an ethicist does not mean I am opposed to making money, particularly when it comes with solid scientific discoveries that benefit human kind. The field of nanotechnology carries that promise. Unfortunately, many ecorestoration, environmentalist, or “green … Read More
November 28, 2007
MIT scientists report that adult stem cells produced in the brain are pre-programmed to make only certain kinds of connections- – making it impossible for a neural stem cell originating in the brain to be transplanted to the spinal cord, … Read More
November 28, 2007
The formula that doctors use to calculate a woman’s risk of breast cancer underestimates the danger for black women most of the time and especially for those age 50 and older — the age when they are most likely to … Read More
November 28, 2007
Euthanasia is considered to be one of the most complex issues nowadays. Is it well-intentioned help to someone who suffers and wishes to die or a murder of a human being? While some people whose relatives are at death’s door … Read More
November 28, 2007
The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) have issued a memo to the heads of executive departments and federal agencies titled “Principles for Nanotechnology Environmental, Health, and Safety Oversight” (pdf download, … Read More
