Synthetic biology is ushering in a new era of biology that is no longer contained within the walls of laboratories in universities and private companies. This movement is known as do-it-yourself bio (DIYbio) and has been compared with models familiar in the cybertech tech world such as commons-based peer production and open source innovation. (Nanotechnology Now)

Criticisms of the ethical justification of antidoping legislation are not uncommon in the literatures of medical ethics, sports ethics and sports medicine. Critics of antidoping point to inconsistencies of principle in the application of legislation and the unjustifiability of ethical postures enshrined in the World Anti-Doping Code, a new version of which came into effect in January 2009. This article explores the arguments concerning the apparent legal peculiarities of antidoping legislation and their ethically salient features in terms of: notions of culpability, liability and guilt; aspects of potential duplication of punishments and the limitations of athlete privacy in antidoping practice and policy. It is noted that tensions still exist between legal and ethical principles and norms that require further critical attention. [Premium (Journal of Medical Ethics)]

I have proposed that a scenario of slower-than-disruptive tech development over the next 15-20 years combined with weak or reduced opposition to human enhancement could result in “increasing irrelevance” for transhumanists. But what exactly does that mean? (IEET)

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) can infect bone marrow cells — including, possibly, hematopoietic stem cells, according to a study published online today (March 7) in Nature. The findings suggest the virus can hide in an inactive state for long periods of time, evading treatment, even in individuals without detectable viral loads. (The Scientist)

The UK Human Tissue Authority (HTA) has issued an official warning that unlawful collections of umbilical cord blood have been taking place in the UK, and that such instances ‘may compromise safety and quality standards’. (PHG Foundation)

Studies in Ethics, Law, and Technology (Volume 3, Issue 3, 2009) is now available by subscription only.

Articles include:

• “Nanotechnologies and Equal Access to Healthcare” by Eduardo Missoni and Guglielmo Foffani.
• “The Impact of Nanomedicine Development on North-South Equity and Equal Opportunities in Healthcare” by Michael G. Tyshenko.
• “Nano Applications, Mega Challenges: The Case of the Health Sector in India” by Jayashree Vivekanandan.
• “The Principle of Justice and Access to Nanomedicine in National Healthcare Systems” by Mette Ebbesen.
• “International Harmonization of Regulation of Nanomedicine” by Gary E. Marchant, Douglas J. Sylvester, Kenneth W. Abbott, and Tara Lynn Danforth.
• “Avoiding the Mistakes of Biotech: How Intellectual Property Can Be Better Managed to Advance Nanotechnology Research” by Richard Gold.”

Sociology of Health & Illness (Volume 32, Issue 2, February 2010) is now available by subscription only.

Articles include:

• “A Sociological Approach to Ageing, Technology and Health” by Kelly Joyce and Meika Loe, 171-180.
• “A History of the Future: The Emergence of Contemporary Anti-Ageing Medicine” by Courtney Everts Mykytyn, 181-196.
• “In the Vanguard of Biomedicine? The Curious and Contradictory Case of Anti-Ageing Medicine” by Jennifer R. Fishman, Richard A. Settersten Jr, and Michael A. Flatt; 197-210.
• “Ageing in Place and Technologies of Place: The Lived Experience of People with Dementia in Changing Social, Physical and Technological Environments” by Katherine Brittain, Lynne Corner, Louise Robinson, and John Bond; 272-287.
• “‘But Obviously Not for Me’: Robots, Laboratories and the Defiant Identity of Elder Test Users” by Louis neve, 335-347.

Stem cell research offers an ever-shifting battlefield, with vested interests and biologists squabbling over the political, ethical, and scientific merits of different types of cells. Now two recent papers have dragged the new kid on the block, induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, into the fray. Those papers offer some of the first side-by-side comparisons of human iPS and human embryonic stem (hES) cells as they differentiate into various kinds of cells. In both papers, researchers report that iPS cells can form desired cell types, but they do so with less efficiency than hES cells. [Premium (Science)]

In the early days of bioethics, the dominant paradigm was about finding ways to slow down the application and use of emerging technologies. While some still tenaciously cling to this paradigm, the ethics of information technologies applied to biobanks and electronic health records, or EHRs, is producing a major shift in thinking. There may in fact be a bioethical imperative to incorporate EHRs into medical practice, as they improve the quality of care delivered and allow for the organization of information that can allow epidemiologists and other researchers to understand critical patterns in public health. (Science Progress)

Last year a five-month-old boy in Turkey stopped gaining weight and became dehydrated despite getting plenty of liquids. Specialists in Istanbul suspected Bartter’s syndrome, a potentially fatal kidney disorder that afflicts one in 100,000 babies, causing dangerously low levels of potassium and salt. (Forbes)

In 2008 prescription medications accounted for $291 billion in sales in the United States. In 2000, the drug industry employed more than 625 lobbyists (1) (there are only 535 members of Congress). Big business. Big money. Big power. Power versus principles – this is an eternal dialectic. If power rules, we might as well shred the Belmont Report right now. (Cactus News Online)

As the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games gets underway, the first athletes have already tested positive for relatively well-known doping substances. Many of them didn’t even make it to Vancouver, having been screened and excluded in advance of the Games. (Huffington Post)

When the US Food and Drug Administration agreed to approve the world’s first trial of a therapy based on human embryonic stem cells just over a year ago, the timing of its announcement was intriguing.

The Bush Administration had been highly obstructive of embryonic stem cell research, imposing a ban on most federal funding of such studies, which Barack Obama had pledged to overturn. Then, just days after President Obama’s inauguration, the FDA suddenly decided that the time was right to give Geron Corporation permission to start its patient trials. (Times Online - Eureka Zone)

Legislatures debate tighter restrictions on relationships with industry and limiting drugmakers’ access to prescribing data. (American Medical News)

Drugmakers are starting to get into bed with information technology companies as they struggle to prove the value of their medicines to governments and insurers. (Reuters)

After warning for years that athletes would try to dope their genes, scientists are finding ways to catch them. The tests are still being refined in animals, but will likely be run years from now on samples taken at the upcoming Winter Olympics and stored. (Wired)

In a case that could have far-reaching implications for medical research and health care based on genetics, groups representing thousands of doctors, scientists and patients went to court Tuesday to argue that no one should be able to patent human genes, a question that has long been controversial in scientific circles. (USA TODAY)

In the rarefied world of fashion magazines, beauty editors have often relied on a coterie of prominent dermatologists and plastic surgeons to keep them current on advances in cosmetic medicine. This symbiotic relationship has benefited magazines eager for beauty scoops and doctors seeking visibility — and patients. (New York Times)

A Californian biomedical company, iPierian, has been granted the first patent issued outside Japan for the genetic reprogramming technology used to create induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells. (Nature News)

Even Superman needed to retire to a phone booth for a quick change. But now scientists at the Stanford University School of Medicine have succeeded in the ultimate switch: transforming mouse skin cells in a laboratory dish directly into functional nerve cells with the application of just three genes. The cells make the change without first becoming a pluripotent type of stem cell — a step long thought to be required for cells to acquire new identities. (PhysOrg)

The latest issue of the Hastings Center Report features articles on “medicalized” weapons that temporarily incapacitate targets, sharing the benefits of newly found biological resources, and applications of GINA (the Genetic Information Nondisclosure Act) (EurekAlert)