December 4, 2007
Ethicists ponder embryo personhood
If embryos are declared people and granted full legal rights, “it would cause a lot of problems,” says Linda MacDonald Glenn of the Alden March Bioethics Institute in Albany, N.Y. (Chicago Tribune)
Monthly Archives: December 2007
December 4, 2007
The Feel of Cancer Cells
Aggressive cancer cells are about 70 percent softer than normal cells, according to research from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA). The UCLA researchers are the first to mechanically probe the physical properties of live cancer cells taken … Read More
December 3, 2007
Putting Suffering People Out of OUR Misery
The New York Times Magazine article about assisted suicide, byline Daniel Bergner, continues to amaze because his analysis actually looks behind the curtain of gooey euphemisms and blithe paeans to “choice.” The article, which I first referenced this weekend, is … Read More
December 3, 2007
Democrats’ battle shifts to healthcare
As voting fast approaches in a hotly competitive presidential primary campaign, the battle in the Democratic field has now focused intensively on healthcare and the question of how “universal” a coverage plan must be. (Los Angeles Times)
December 3, 2007
Breaking Down Barriers to End-of-Life Care for Children
The death of a child is devastating for all concerned — parents, grandparents, siblings, friends, even the child’s doctor. Complicating matters, even though more than 55,000 children die every year in the United States, palliative care — which focuses on … Read More
December 3, 2007
Op-Ed: Behind the Stem Cell Breakthrough
The stunning announcement by Japanese and American research teams that they have obtained highly promising stem cells without having to destroy an embryo could help free scientists from shackles that have long hobbled their efforts. It is especially important for … Read More
December 3, 2007
Op-Ed: Standing in the Way of Stem Cell Research
A new way to trick skin cells into acting like embryos changes both everything and nothing at all. Being able to reprogram skin cells into multipurpose stem cells without harming embryos launches an exciting new line of research. It’s important … Read More
December 2, 2007
The Federal Government is Undermining Hospice
With a government like this, terminally ill people don’t need enemies. Back in the late 1990s, federal bureaucrats began an assault on hospice known ridiculously as “Operation Restore Trust.” The idea was this: If a hospice patient on Medicare didn’t … Read More
December 1, 2007
Delivering Drugs with MEMS
An MIT spinoff is finally ready to begin testing smart implants for drug delivery and sensing. After nearly a decade of working on microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) for medical implants, a startup based in Bedford, MA, called MicroChips has prototypes for … Read More
December 1, 2007
Menstrual blood tapped as source of stem cells
While the excitement continues to swirl around the recent breakthrough of converting skin cells to stem cells, other researchers are quietly pursuing a new type of stem cell discovered in menstrual blood. (MSNBC.com)
December 1, 2007
Inside India’s Underground Trade in Human Remains
A constable in a sweat-stained undershirt and checkered blue sarong lays a ragged cloth over a patch of mud. He jerks open the back door of a decrepit Indian-made Tata Sumo SUV — what passes for an evidence locker at … Read More
December 1, 2007
California Stem Cell Agency to Fund Non-Embryonic Alternatives
California’s stem cell agency plans to spend up to $13 million on research in 2008 to investigate techniques that do not destroy human embryos. It’s a shift from the institute’s original goal of funding mostly embryonic stem cell research. (Wired)
December 1, 2007
The Washington State Assisted Suicide Campaign Begins
Booth Gardner, former governor of Washington and a very rich man, intends to buy a law for Washington legalizing assisted suicide. His opening salvo comes in an extended piece in this Sunday’s New York Times Magazine. The piece is actually … Read More
