June 15, 2010
Assisted by the robots and other complex machinery, scientists are studying what happens to the cells as each of the roughly 22,000 human genes is turned off. They hope to find the genes involved in different diseases, the starting point … Read More
June 15, 2010
The public wants a say in how research in to the manufacture of synthetic life is conducted, according to a report. The Synthetic Biology Public Dialogue was commissioned by the two UK research councils responsible for funding what has been … Read More
June 15, 2010
There haven’t been many times when I have been at a loss for words when conducting an interview as a medical reporter. This was one of those moments. (CNN)
June 15, 2010
Argentina’s generation of stolen children is being victimized once again, in a misguided attempt to make amends for past wrongs, by requiring DNA tests to determine the identity of their biological parents. (The Globe and Mail)
June 15, 2010
Test-tube babies are almost twice as likely to suffer birth defects than children born naturally, according to the largest study of its kind. Babies conceived through IVF have a significantly higher risk of being born with heart problems and malformed … Read More
June 15, 2010
Annals of Biomedical Engineering (Volume 38, Number 7, July 2010) is now available by subscription only Articles Include: “Are We Studying What Matters? Health Priorities and NIH-Funded Biomedical Engineering Research” by Jessica B. Rubin, A. David Paltiel and W. Mark Saltzman
June 15, 2010
New Blackfriars (Volume 91, Issue 1034, July 2010) is now available by subscription only Articles Include: “Public Reason in Bioethics” by Nicholas Tonti-Filippini
June 15, 2010
Nursing Philosophy (Volume 11, Issue 3, July 2010) is now available by subscription only Articles Include: “Scepticism About the Virtue Ethics Approach to Nursing Ethics” by Stephen Holland “Reflection on Moral Maturity in a Nurse’s Caring Practice: A Critical Perspective” by … Read More
June 14, 2010
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has dealt the controversial world of consumer genomics a major blow, by issuing five major companies with letters stating their intention to formally regulate the industry. The letters – sent to 23andme, deCODEme, … Read More
June 14, 2010
Individual results of genetic research studies should not be disclosed to participants without careful consideration, a scientist will tell the annual conference of the European Society of Human Genetics today (Monday). Dr. Robin Hayeems, from the Department of Health Policy, … Read More
June 14, 2010
I expect many things when, God forbid, I have to go to the hospital. Competence and compassion rank high. So do cleanliness and modern equipment. Nice, airy rooms. Palatable food. Attentive nurses. They’re crucial, too. But privacy? Not at the … Read More
June 14, 2010
For biologists, the genome has yielded one insightful surprise after another. But the primary goal of the $3 billion Human Genome Project — to ferret out the genetic roots of common diseases like cancer and Alzheimer’s and then generate treatments … Read More
June 14, 2010
In the second episode of “Boston Med,’’ a cardiothoracic surgeon at Children’s Hospital Boston makes this matter-of-fact assertion: “It’s a tough situation, but it’s not hopeless, and if anybody can fix it, we can.’’ (The Boston Globe)
June 14, 2010
A friend gave a kidney to me, but we can’t always rely on goodwill. That’s why we must properly reward donors. (Times Online)
June 14, 2010
Transhumanism is the idea of guiding and improving human evolution with intention through the use of technologies and culture. If those technologies are not robotic and cybernetic but, instead, genetic and organic, then so be it. (IEET)
June 14, 2010
Normal procedures followed by ethics review boards can slow down research that could help officials respond to a public health emergency. In a bid to fast-track the process in Canada, a framework published this week in the Canadian Medical Association … Read More
June 14, 2010
ON a Tuesday evening this spring, Sergey Brin, the co-founder of Google, became part man and part machine. About 40 people, all gathered here at a NASA campus for a nine-day, $15,000 course at Singularity University, saw it happen. (New … Read More
June 11, 2010
A French drug company is hoping to offer American women something their European counterparts already have: a pill that works long after “the morning after.” The drug, dubbed ella, would be sold as a contraceptive — one that could prevent … Read More
June 11, 2010
Efforts to provide medical services by videoconference, a notion known as telemedicine, are expanding into all sorts of realms, but these clinics in Iowa are the first in the nation, and so far the only ones, experts say, to provide … Read More
June 11, 2010
Better known for its idyllic tropical beaches and lush cloud forests, Costa Rica’s many hospitals and clinics have made medical tourism one of the fastest growing segments of its tourism sector, the motor of its economy. They lure tens of … Read More
June 11, 2010
With all the nonstop news we hear about genetic medicine—a gene discovered here! a new genetic test developed there!—it’s easy to forget that our intro to this mesmerizing field of medicine happened only very recently. It was just seven years … Read More
June 11, 2010
Following the news earlier this year that blood samples used for genetic research were to be returned to the indigenous Havasupai Indians in the US by Arizona State University comes a new report that a similar repatriation will take place … Read More
June 11, 2010
The Government has agreed to adopt the Health Select Committee’s recommendations on the Human Assisted Reproductive Technology (Storage) Amendment Bill. The bill clarifies that the law on the 10-year storage limit for human gametes (eggs and sperm), and embryos starts … Read More
June 11, 2010
In last week’s Jewish News, Rabbi Yitzchak Schochet discussed his view of the problems with organ donation in Judaism. I fear he may have left people with an inaccurate impression of how it is arranged and the Jewish view towards … Read More
June 11, 2010
International Journal of Evidence-Based Healthcare (Volume 8, Issue 2, June 2010) is now available by subscription only. Articles Include: “Ethical Conduct of Research in Developing Countries” by Michael Clinton, 43-44. “Recent Evidence on the Development and Maintenance of Constructive Staff-Family … Read More
