September 14, 2007
The initiative, known as Healthy San Francisco, is the first effort by a locality to guarantee care to all of its uninsured, and it represents the latest attempt by state and local governments to patch a inadequate federal system. (New … Read More
September 14, 2007
An emergency room might be the last place you’d think would have do-it-yourself check-in. But Parkland Memorial Hospital has three self-service computer kiosks, similar to those used by airport passengers and hotel guests. And so do a handful of other … Read More
September 14, 2007
New technology, whether it is a novel cancer treatment or an innovative approach to making a new material, almost always comes with risk. Nanotechnologies are no different. Certain nano-fabrication techniques employ toxic chemicals, the production of carbon nanotubes results in … Read More
September 14, 2007
Can our bodies, healthy and disease-free, tell us how we will die? Emory doctors believe they can. The university has launched a $50 million research initiative in “predictive” medicine that it hopes will fundamentally change the nation’s struggling health care … Read More
September 14, 2007
Scientists in Australia have found a way of identifying probable stem cells in the lining of women’s wombs. (ScienceDaily)
September 14, 2007
While many researchers are happy with the UK ruling that allows human stem cell research, opponents fear the results could lead to mutations, if hybrid embryos should fall into the wrong hands. (ABC News)
September 13, 2007
Between the two extremes is where America’s healthcare system has unraveled. A patchwork of employer benefits and government assistance for the very poor and elderly has produced distinct differences. Those with very good jobs and generous benefits packages enjoy extensive, … Read More
September 13, 2007
It may look like a humble hearing aid, but it could be the next step in the UK’s bid for Olympic victory. The small device fits discreetly behind the ear and provides sports coaches with information about an athlete’s gait … Read More
September 13, 2007
INDUSTRIAL age foundries made cast-metal parts. Information age foundries, or “fabs,†produce computer chips. Now come foundries for the biotechnology age, churning out the stuff of life itself. (New York Times)
September 13, 2007
Next week, the Nuffield council on Bioethics is set to publish its thoughts on the ethics of using biometrics as forensic tools. In the lead up to the publication of the report, to be entitled The Forensic Use of Bioinformation: … Read More
September 13, 2007
Donation Groups Say They Walk a Fine Line, but Critics See Potential for Abuses. (Washington Post)
September 13, 2007
The unique deal is being paid for by the Government-funded Medical Research Council which says alternative schemes have all failed. (Daily Mail)
September 12, 2007
Prediction: We are just a few years away from a catastrophic disaster brought about by an autonomous computer system making a decision–a disaster that will provoke a political response on par with 9/11. (CNET)
September 12, 2007
A new report reveals a system of separate and unequal nursing-home care for black Americans, one that could expose frail seniors to substandard care. (USA Today)
September 12, 2007
It may be wrong to define death purely in medical terms, an academic argues. Professor Allan Kellehear said the medical diagnosis of brain death was at odds with society’s view of when death actually occurs. (BBC)
September 12, 2007
The first comprehensive examination of the ethical, social and cultural (ESC) challenges faced by major science programs in developing countries has identified a complex assortment of issues with the potential to slow critical global health research if left unaddressed. (Innovations … Read More
September 12, 2007
The promise of gene therapy has long been held up by the lack of a safe and effective way to insert the desired therapeutic genes into the right cells. To solve that problem, MIT researchers have developed a new polymer … Read More
September 12, 2007
Researchers from IBM’s Zurich Research Lab and Switzerland’s ETH Zurich science and technology university today announced the development of a dramatic new printing process that can manipulate nanosize particles to create larger images. The new technology promises to allow scientists, … Read More
September 12, 2007
People who have undergone in vitro fertilization (IVF) in order to have children face vexing moral choices about what to do with the remaining embryos that were not implanted. Now they have a new option: to develop personalized stem-cell lines … Read More
September 12, 2007
Minority and lower-income healthcare consumers are less likely to take advantage of mental health and prescription benefits than white and higher-income consumers, study finds. (Duke News)
September 12, 2007
The British government’s chief scientific advisor has set out a universal ethical code for scientists. (BBC)
September 12, 2007
UCSF scientists are reporting what they say is a significant improvement in the technique for genetically reprogramming mouse cells to their embryonic state, a process that transforms the cells, in essence, into embryonic stem cells. (ScienceDaily)
September 12, 2007
An Auckland professor has won official approval to resume clinical trials for implanting insulin-producing pig cells into diabetics. (Stuff.co.nz)
September 11, 2007
It was a neighbor screaming in pain 35 years ago that set Dr. M. R. Rajagopal on the path to his nickname: India’s “father of palliative care.†(New York Times)
September 11, 2007
Experts are debating whether terminally ill patients should have the right to try out new drugs that have not completed safety checks. (BBC)
