June 13, 2011
The Polish government may have to revise its abortion legislation after an exceptionally tragic case in which a woman carrying a foetus with genetic abnormalities was refused an abortion multiple times. The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) intervened in … Read More
June 13, 2011
The Israeli feminist group Isha L’Isha has published a harshly critical report on surrogate motherhood. Israel was the first country to legalise surrogacy, in March 1996. But 15 years later, says Isha L’Isha, “insufficient data have, as yet, been gathered … Read More
June 13, 2011
If family life is a human right, shouldn’t prisoners be able to father children from behind bars? This is the question being debated in the UK after it emerged that Prisons minister Crispin Blunt approved an unnamed inmate’s request for … Read More
June 13, 2011
A 58-year-old Moscow woman has become the grandmother of 4 children after using her deceased son’s sperm and two surrogate mothers. Lamara Kelesheva, a medical doctor, had not expected four bundles of joy, as five previous attempts had failed. But … Read More
June 13, 2011
Using organs from euthanased patients seem to have become a well established procedure in Belgium, only nine years after it was legalized. A press release from a team at a hospital in Leuven announced yesterday that it had successfully transplanted … Read More
June 13, 2011
A new resource of epigenetic maps is in development for use by researchers. The Reference Epigenome Mapping Consortium, part of the Roadmap Epigenomics Program funded by the US NIH, are creating a ‘community resource’ of genome-wide epigenetic maps from different … Read More
June 12, 2011
The Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics (Volume 39, Issue 2, May 12, 2011) is now available by subscription only. Articles include: “Introduction: Caring for the Seriously Ill: Cost and Public Policy” by Thaddeus M. Pope, Robert M. Arnold and … Read More
June 11, 2011
The New England Journal of Medicine (Volume 364, Issue 19, May 12, 2011) is now available online and by subscription only. Articles include: “Reforming Medicare by Reforming Incentives” by A. C. Enthoven, available online. “Consensus and Conflict in Health System … Read More
June 10, 2011
Since the first human cord blood transplant, performed in 1988, the safety and efficacy of umbilical cord blood transplantation in both children and adults with a variety of malignant and non-malignant diseases have been clearly established. (Medical News Today)
June 10, 2011
Charla Nash, the Connecticut woman whose face was horribly mauled by her friend’s pet chimpanzee, has undergone grueling surgery to give her a new face. (ABC News)
June 10, 2011
For tracking, radio frequency identification (RFID) chips are the greatest thing since sliced bread. But what if the RFID chip was actually in the sliced bread? (New Scientist)
June 10, 2011
Darpa is sick and tired of waiting around for Mother Nature. Instead, it wants to take the life-making business into its own hands – and manufacture new biological forms in a factory of mix-and-match bio-bits. (Wired)
June 10, 2011
Journal of Applied Philosophy (Volume 28, Issue 8, May 2011) is now available by subscription only. Articles include: “Rethinking Procreation: Why it Matters Why We Have Children” by Mianna Lotz, 105-121. “What You Don’t Know Can Help You: The Ethics … Read More
June 9, 2011
Ever since IBM supercomputer Watson beat Jeopardy! champions Brad Rutter and Ken Jennings, there’s been a lot of talk about putting the computer’s question-and-answer capabilities to real applications. (Scientific American)
June 9, 2011
Five U.S. senators asked the Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services to open an investigation into physician-owned distributorships, middleman entities that allow surgeons to profit from the medical devices they use on their patients, to determine … Read More
June 9, 2011
Some of the most harrowing cases of psychological and medical malpractice involve attempts to change a child’s gender or sexual identity. Not only have such misguided “therapies” often resulted in patients’ suicides, but they also repeatedly appear to foster scientific … Read More
June 9, 2011
Young mom Jennifer Ostayan “couldn’t even look” when her newborn daughter Taline got her first round of vaccinations. (ABC News)
June 9, 2011
WHO and the World Bank today revealed new global estimates that more than one billion people experience some form of disability. They urged governments to step up efforts to enable access to mainstream services and to invest in specialized programmes … Read More
June 9, 2011
Older people are more likely to die of cancer because they receive less investigation of and treatment for their disease due to “age bias” by the NHS, a major new report warns. (The Guardian)
June 9, 2011
Nature Biotechnology (Volume 29, Issue 5, May 2011) is now available by subscription only. Articles include: “Human iPSC and ESC Translation Potential Debated” by Jeffrey L. Fox, 375-376.
June 8, 2011
Nature Medicine (Volume 17, Issue 5, May 2011) is now available by subscription only. Articles include: “NIH Faces Marching Orders on Orphan Drug Shortage” by Elie Dolgin, 522.
June 8, 2011
Heart attacks kill because they strangle heart muscle, destroying cells and preventing the organ from pumping properly. Now, researchers reveal that they have nudged cells within mouse hearts to repair some of the damage, a discovery that might prompt new … Read More
June 8, 2011
THERE’S a children’s picture book in the US called Brandon and the Bipolar Bear. Brandon and his bear sometimes fly into unprovoked rages. Sometimes they’re silly and overexcited. A nice doctor tells them they are ill, and gives them medicine … Read More
June 8, 2011
FEW AREAS of scientific research invoke as much hope or hype as stem cells. The concept of using “master cells†to heal or replace damaged tissues is a seductive one, but it’s by no means straightforward, and recent discoveries are … Read More
June 8, 2011
Transplant tourism is one of those dangerous businesses that proliferate in many developing-world countries. The intersection of rich foreigner frantic for a kidney, cornea or liver and poor local desperate to make money has spawned an illicit organ-trafficking industry, from … Read More
