December 18, 2012
Despite the haze surrounding surrogacy, doctors involved in artificial reproductive technology (ART) claim that it’s a win-win situation for the commissioning couple as well as the surrogate mother. So even as surrogacy continues to pose a moral question, more and … Read More
December 18, 2012
Ray Kurzweil, an inventor and futurist who predicts the coming rise of superhuman intelligence, has become Google’s new guru for pushing the boundaries of artificial intelligence starting today (Dec. 17). (Live Science)
December 18, 2012
The device was developed by a team led by Hsiao-hua Yu from the RIKEN Advanced Science Institute in Japan and Hsian-Rong Tseng from the Department of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology at the University of California Los Angeles, in research published … Read More
December 17, 2012
The causes of infertility, which affects around 10% of couples, are often unknown, but may in some cases result from the body’s inability to produce viable gametes — also known as sperm and egg cells. The first study of the … Read More
December 17, 2012
A new study out this week makes the link between free emergency over-the-counter contraception, called plan B, and an increase in STD rates of infection, as well as no corresponding decrease in abortion rates or pregnancy outcomes. (The Guardian Express)
December 17, 2012
Director Jeremy Sims describes his latest project as a feel-good film about euthanasia. “It’s a coming-of-age story for a 70-year-old man,” said the filmmaker. (Herald Sun)
December 17, 2012
Tom Knight got the bug for bioscience while he was a computer engineer at MIT. He founded the synthetic biology field and help set up bioengineering company Ginkgo BioWorks. He says we’ll soon be able to engineer living things with … Read More
December 17, 2012
Medical Tourism in Costa Rica has seen significant growth over the past decade, and many experts expect to see even greater growth as issues like US health insurance through Obamacare come into play. (The Costa Rica News)
December 17, 2012
Several thousand Spanish public health workers and other people marched from four main hospitals in Madrid to converge on a main square in the capital Sunday, protesting the regional government’s plans to restructure and part-privatize the sector. (Fox News)
December 17, 2012
That finding, published online Thursday in Science, could explain why almost none of the new generation of “personalized” cancer drugs is a true cure, and suggests that drugs based on genetics alone will never achieve that holy grail. (Huffington Post)
December 17, 2012
Having twins as a result of in vitro fertilization (IVF) carries higher risks of complications for both mother and babies than having two single babies from separate IVF procedures, according to a new Swedish study. (Reuters)
December 14, 2012
Artist and campaigner Jessica Thom set up a novel twitter account to take advantage off her prominent Tourettes syndrome. But it seems to have taken on its own identity. (The Guardian)
December 14, 2012
Two major barriers to the advancement of DNA nanotechnology beyond the research lab have been knocked down. This emerging technology employs DNA as a programmable building material for self-assembled, nanometer-scale structures. (Nanotechnology Now)
December 14, 2012
It was worldwide news when a woman died in Ireland after being denied an abortion. She was hardly the only tragedy. (Salon)
December 14, 2012
A Massachusetts biotechnology company said it expects as early as Friday to start the process for regulatory approval of what experts said would be the first human trial involving stem cells created by reprogramming adult cells back to an embryonic-like … Read More
December 14, 2012
Sana’a Security forces declared that they arrested a group of human organ traffickers on Tuesday. (Yemen Times)
December 13, 2012
Decades after a risky Cold War experiment, a scientist lives with secrets. (The New Yorker)
December 13, 2012
Yamanaka’s breakthrough in 2006 regarding iPS cell production through somatic cells, such as skin cells, was considered epoch-making as it offered an alternative to destroying human embryos. But Yamanaka now says he “was wrong” to have assumed that the technology … Read More
December 13, 2012
If you’re betting that the California stem cell agency will spurn key recommendations of a blue-ribbon review panel that criticized its leadership and management structures, you might want to double that bet. Several board members showed overt hostility to the … Read More
December 13, 2012
You’ve gotten the phone call no one wants to receive: A close family member has been diagnosed with a life-threatening illness, or one battling a terminal condition has begun to fail. And so begins a medical saga that could last … Read More
December 12, 2012
A legislative proposal to have the Defense Department cover the cost of abortions for military women and Tricare insurance beneficiaries in cases of rape and incest has drawn unanimous support from the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services. … Read More
December 12, 2012
THERE is no evidence of a higher rate of assisted suicide among the vulnerable and old in countries where it is legal, a court was told. The High Court heard evidence from a university expert during the challenge to the … Read More
December 12, 2012
Russian billionaire Yuri Milner, best-known for investments linking consumers to the Internet, is placing a bet on genetics. (Reuters)
December 12, 2012
Could human and machine forecasters work together to increase the intelligence agencies’ foresight? (The Atlantic)
December 11, 2012
Researchers in China have found a way to transform cells excreted in human urine into neural progenitor cells, the precursors of brain cells. (Huffington Post)
