February 29, 2008
In the last debate between Senators Obama and Clinton, the candidates were asked what their greatest mistake had been. Clinton went to her Iraq vote but Obama said it was his agreeing to the federal law that tried to save … Read More
February 29, 2008
There was a lively audience at this public meeting held at the Centre for Life in Newcastle on 12 February, an evening debate organised by Progress Educational Trust. This is perhaps not surprising given the recent media speculation and the … Read More
February 29, 2008
IN THE late 1980s, the book Engines of Creation by Eric Drexler caused quite a stir. It described a coming revolution in nanotechnology – the design of machines and structures on the scale of billionths of a metre. Drexler predicted … Read More
February 29, 2008
The Appeal Division of Canada’s National Parole Board has granted a farmer convicted of the 1993 mercy killing of his disabled daughter day parole. (UPI)
February 29, 2008
China’s political leadership is considering ending the country’s hated “one-child” policy because it is damaging the economy and creating a demographic timebomb, a senior minister admitted today. (Times Online)
February 28, 2008
A federal agency has upheld a patent that covers embryonic stem cell research, rejecting a challenge from critics who say the patents are hindering research. An examiner with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office ruled this week that one of … Read More
February 28, 2008
Google Inc has unveiled a plan to help U.S. patients gain control of their medical records and is working with doctors’ groups, pharmacies and labs to help them securely share sensitive health data. (Reuters)
February 28, 2008
All children – not just those under 5 – should get vaccinated against the flu, a federal advisory panel said Wednesday. The panel voted to expand annual flu shots to virtually all children except infants younger than 6 months and … Read More
February 28, 2008
A trawl through the genes of white people in Utah and Yoruba people in Nigeria shows a significant number of differences that can explain why some groups respond differently to drugs than others. (Reuters)
February 28, 2008
Marketing directly to consumers, the new crop of companies has jumped into a realm of dubious science, mining DNA to offer information on ethnic heritage, long-lost relatives, personalized dieting plans — even the sports for which one is best suited. … Read More
February 28, 2008
What can nanotechnology do right now? What might it do in the future? George A. Kimbrell and Aatish Salvi continue their debate. (Los Angeles Times)
February 28, 2008
Patients with end-stage chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) who have two lungs transplanted in place of one live nearly two years longer on average, according to a study released Friday. (AFP)
February 28, 2008
The conflagration over the reauthorization of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) offers a compelling example of Washington’s current inability to address even seemingly uncontroversial matters such as improved health care coverage for children. After the House failed to … Read More
February 28, 2008
Whoever wins the White House, stem cell biotechs stand to reap the benefit from an incoming leader who is friendlier to stem cell researchers than President Bush, and that could lift stocks for the entire sector, experts say. (CNN)
February 27, 2008
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have demonstrated that living human nerve cells can be engineered into a network that could one day be used for transplants to repair damaged to the nervous system. (ScienceDaily)
February 27, 2008
The main obstacle to using “reprogrammed” human stem cells – the danger that they might turn cancerous – has been solved, claims a US company. PrimeGen, based in Irvine, California, says that its scientists have converted specialised adult human cells … Read More
February 27, 2008
On a winter night in 2006, a disabled and brain damaged man named Ruben Navarro was wheeled into an operating room at a hospital here. By most accounts, Mr. Navarro, 25, was near death, and doctors hoped that he might … Read More
February 27, 2008
All girls in Sweden should be offered vaccines to help prevent cervical cancer as part of the country’s free vaccination program, the National Board of Health and Welfare said Tuesday. (AFP)
February 27, 2008
Trials of a “silicon womb” that holds test-tube embryos inside the womb to expose them to more natural conditions will shortly begin in the UK. Researchers say the new device may produce better quality embryos and reduce the need to … Read More
February 27, 2008
THE CLOSEST you can come to heresy in today’s healthcare policy debate is to suggest that managed care can help and that capitation is the best way to pay for it. No presidential candidate even whispers the terms. What a … Read More
February 27, 2008
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is launching a new effort meant to strengthen its oversight of prescription drugs after they win approval, an agency official said on Tuesday. The plan, called “Safety First,” includes creation of a new database … Read More
February 27, 2008
Treatment with adult stem cells harvested from blood or bone marrow may benefit some patients with certain kinds of cardiovascular disorders and autoimmune diseases, a new U.S. analysis shows. (HealthDay)
February 27, 2008
Government spending on health care could nearly double by 2017 to more than $2 trillion, according to a new federal study, reflecting a surge that promises to complicate the campaign debate about health care. (Wall Street Journal)
February 26, 2008
With the exception of the Missouri media and perhaps, the New York Times, it is now clear that adult stem cells offer tremendous hope for treatments for a wide variety of ailments. The Journal of the American Medical Association reports … Read More
February 26, 2008
A woman dying of Alzheimer’s has a fever. Should she be given antibiotics? Many people would say yes. But a provocative new study suggests that antibiotics are overused in people dying of dementia diseases and should be considered more carefully … Read More
