January 29, 2007
“We need to be aware of what’s coming, because sometimes new technologies burst on the scene before we decide if we want them and what the consequences are,” Clarke said during an interview. (Mercury News)
January 29, 2007
What if doctors in Kenya could equip cells of the retina with photoswitches that can be flipped on, essentially making blind nerve cells see and restoring light sensitivity in people with degenerative blindness? (Nanowerk)
January 29, 2007
…thousands of women and couples willing to travel and pay for eggs. A thriving global fertility industry welcomes them with open arms, promising babies. (USA Today)
January 29, 2007
Patients who suffer from disease or injury that leave them unable to move have little hope of independent mobility. But that may be about to change. Researchers are developing a thought-controlled robotic wheelchair. (Wired)
January 29, 2007
Genetic testing can help predict many diseases and one day may help prevent them, but privacy concerns and fears of abuse could derail the technology’s potential. (CNN)
January 29, 2007
In a precedent-setting decision, an Israeli court has ruled that a dead soldier’s family can have his sperm impregnated into the body of a woman he never met. (USA Today)
January 29, 2007
The Food and Drug Administration’s recent declaration that food from cloned animals is safe was a fresh reminder of how poorly the biotech industry and its regulators have managed the field’s portfolio of innovation over the years. (New York Times)
January 29, 2007
The House of Commons Science and Technology Committee will hold its first evidence session this week in a new inquiry into the Government’s proposals for the regulation of the creation of animal/human hybrid and chimera embryos for research purposes. (BioNews)
January 29, 2007
GlaxoSmithKline Plc was accused on Monday of distorting clinical trial results of its antidepressant Seroxat, or Paxil, and covering up a link with suicide in teenagers. (Reuters)
January 29, 2007
U.S. scientists have developed a new laboratory technique that uses ribonucleic acid (RNA), a tiny chemical cousin of DNA, to switch on genes. This approach may help in the development of treatments for diseases in which prompting genes into activity … Read More
January 29, 2007
In the future, look for the first biotech firm to derive an effective AFS cell therapy to enter into an exclusive relationship with a storage banking facility. Cryo-Cell already has one such arrangement with the Plureon Corporation in its storage … Read More
January 29, 2007
If you’re a European citizen, chances are your country of origin either proscribes compensation for donor eggs, prohibits the anonymous sale of sperm, or bans the rental of wombs. But reproductive freedom may lie just a high-speed train ride away, … Read More
January 28, 2007
I was interviewed on Saturday in a talk radio format, but it is a podcast called Peering Into the Darkness, with Derek and Sharon Gilbert. The topic was transhumanism and related issues. What astounds me is that communication technology is … Read More
January 27, 2007
This is wrong. A boy decides he is a girl–a boy–and psychiatrists and doctors agree to get on with the hormones before he has even had a chance to experience puberty and perhaps come to different conclusions. The worry was … Read More
January 27, 2007
Now, here’s a story of how and why transhumanism isn’t going to cure what ails the human condition: Second Life, which I had not even heard of until a correspondent wrote asking to interview me about it a short time … Read More
January 26, 2007
I just checked at the NIH Web site to see the latest NIH funding levels for ESCR. Wow. Between fiscal 2003-2007, the Feds will have shelled out approximately $161 million for human embryonic stem cell research. Add in $492 million … Read More
January 26, 2007
Of course he does, and of course, he is allowed to do so in the New York Times. You see, although he doesn’t say it in this article explicitly, to Peter Singer, Ashley is not a person. That means that … Read More
January 26, 2007
It’s a sign of desperation. One reason there have been so few drug breakthroughs lately is that the profit motive actually works against the development of new pharmaceuticals. Drug companies suffer from blockbuster-itis, the belief that only billion-dollar almost-sure things … Read More
January 26, 2007
Damage to a silver dollar-sized spot deep in the brain seems to wipe out the urge to smoke, a surprising discovery that may shed important new light on addiction. The research was inspired by a stroke survivor who claimed he … Read More
January 26, 2007
The Virgin-branded company will be launched next Thursday and is expected to offer parents the chance to put the umbilical blood of their newborn children into cold storage. Scientists believe that future advances in medical technology will use stem cells … Read More
January 26, 2007
Norway’s government proposed lifting a national ban on using human embryonic stem cells for research, saying Friday that the change might help find cures to a broad range of diseases. (AP)
January 26, 2007
Religion and science can combine to create some thorny questions: Does God exist outside the human mind, or is God a creation of our brains? Why do we have faith in things that we cannot prove, whether it’s the afterlife … Read More
January 26, 2007
Most Americans age 50 and older use complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), such as herbal products or acupuncture, often unbeknownst to their doctor, according to a survey conducted by AARP and the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. (Reuters)
January 26, 2007
Poor methodological standards in animal studies mean that positive results rarely translate to the clinical domain. (British Medical Journal)
January 26, 2007
I just checked at the NIH Web site to see the latest NIH funding levels for ESCR. Wow. Between fiscal 2003-2007, the Feds will have shelled out approximately $161 million for human embryonic stem cell research. Add in $492 million … Read More
