Increasing numbers of poor women around the world are being solicited for their eggs for the purposes of medical experimentation. Aside from ethical concerns, egg donation poses significant health risks.
"Embryonic stem-cell research has been as disappointing in its results as it has been divisive to our society. Pursuit of this destructive research will almost certainly require you to embrace more and more egregious violations of moral norms in the effort to bring its 'promise' to fruition."
- Cardinal Justin Rigali of Philadelphia, Chairman of the U.S. bishops' Committee on Pro-Life Activities
A licence to create human-pig embryos to study heart disease has been issued by the fertility watchdog.
This marks the third animal-human hybrid embryo licence to be issued by Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority and the first since the Commons voted in favour of this controversial research last month.
An HFEA spokesman said it had approved an application from the Clinical Sciences Research Institute, University of Warwick, for the creation of hybrid embryos. The centre has been offered a 12 month licence with effect from today, July 1.
The effort at the University of Warwick is led by Professor Justin St John. "This new license allows us to attempt to make human pig clones to produce embryonic stem cells," he said, where embryonic stem cells are able to turn into the 200 plus types in the body. read more Telegraph 7.3
Applications must be submitted by June 24th, via the Best Friends Again website at www.bestfriendsagain.com. “On behalf of the entire team at BioArts International, I am delighted to offer one lucky person the chance to have his or her best dog friend cloned for FREE through our Golden Clone Giveaway,” said Lou Hawthorne, CEO of BioArts.
Recently, BioArts International announced the Best Friends Again auction, which will run from July 5th-9th. Five dog cloning slots will be auctioned to the highest bidders worldwide, with bids starting at $100,000. “Frankly,” said Lou, ”our staff has been touched by the large volume of emails we’ve received from passionate dog owners who wish they could participate in this auction, but can't afford it.” In response, Lou decided to give ONE additional dog cloning slot to the person with the most “cloneworthy” dog.
To take advantage of the once-in-a-lifetime Golden Clone Giveaway, all contestants must go to www.bestfriendsagain.com and complete an entry form, including a 500-word essay in English, explaining why they feel their dog deserves to be cloned.
BioArts International has been granted the sole, worldwide license for the cloning of dogs, cats and endangered species. This exclusive license was granted by Start Licensing Inc. and applies to the SCNT cloning patents developed at the Roslin Institute for Dolly the sheep, the first successfully cloned adult mammal. The Best Friends Again program is a partnership between BioArts and the world's most experienced dog cloning team, Sooam Biotech Research Foundation in South Korea.
read more BusinessWire
Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland says he will veto the portion of a $1.3 billion funding bill that says state funds cannot be used for human cloning research.
Some say such research could lead to breakthroughs in fighting debilitating diseases and draw biomedical research companies to the state. Opponents consider it unethical and too undeveloped. read more
Large strides have been made in the field of stem cell research – while avoiding the use of embryonic stem cells. One such example occurred in Colorado last Tuesday. A spinal surgeon completed the first disc surgery in the U.S. using adult (somatic) stem cells to repair a man’s lower back.
The operation, which was completed to alleviate the patient’s extreme lower back pain, took place at the Medical Center of Aurora in Aurora, Colorado by Dr. Jeffrey Kleiner.
Dr. Kleiner told the Rocky Mountain News that though this is the first one, it is something they’d like to begin doing more of – if it is proven successful. “Like all scientific processes, we're hopeful for a home run, but we have to take this one step at a time. We're just looking for relatively small gains." read more CNA 6.8
British government officials say they are considering legal action to allow scientists to use dead donors' tissue in stem cell cloning research.
Health ministers have requested that experts be permitted to use human tissue to clone embryonic stem cells regardless of whether they have the donor's specific permission, The Times of London reported Sunday.
It is reported tissue stored for as long as three decades could be used in the stem cell research if legal approval is given. Experts would be allowed to use tissue from donors who cannot be reached because they have died or otherwise can't be contacted, the Times said.
Officials said the amendment to the Human Fertilization and Embryology Bill has been tabled and is set to be discussed in coming days, the newspaper said. UPI 6.1
Start Licensing, Inc. (Start) today announced that it has granted a sole, worldwide license for the cloning of dogs, cats and endangered species to BioArts International, Ltd. (BioArts) of Mill Valley, California. The license includes the grant of an exclusive option to BioArts for exclusivity in dog and cat cloning.
Our agreement strengthens BioArts’ position as the world’s leading quality provider of companion animal cloning services,” said Jonathan Thatcher, president of Start. read more biz.yahoo 5.21
Members of the British Parliament, on a lopsided vote, approved allowing scientists to make hybrids combining animal and human DNA in human cloning attempts. The House of Commons rejected an amendment to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill that would have prevented it.
MPs voted 336 to 176 against the amendment from Tory former minister Edward Leigh.
He said the use of hybrid clones cross an "entirely new ethical boundary," and turn the UK into a scientific "rogue state."
"In many ways we are like children playing with landmines without any concept of the dangers of the technology that we are handling," he said, according to a Press Association report.
Members of parliament also voted 286 to 223 to reject a second amendment that would have prohibited so-called "true hybrids" using the sex cells of a human and an animal. read more LifeNews
I just read a ridiculous screed by Steven Pinker in the New Republic that is beyond ludicrous. His primary purpose seems to be to attack Leon Kass, who agree or disagree with him, is a very serious thinker. A secondary point seems to be that the President's Council on Bioethics is pushing a Catholic agenda. The third point is that human dignity is no basis for crafting public policy and bioethical principles.
It might help his case if Pinker could get his facts straight. Case in point: Pinker writes that Kass was appointed to head the President's Council on Bioethics, "a position from which he convinced the president to outlaw federally funded research that used new stem-cell lines." But that is exceedingly strange since, 1) the Council did not exist when the president's policy was made and, indeed, was only created in the aftermath of that decision, 2) if Kass (who is Jewish) were really pushing the Catholic line, the President would not have permitted any funding of ESCR. You see, the Catholic Church opposed the Bush plan, and 3) as far as I know Kass has never publicly commented upon funding of ESCR nor on it propriety or lack thereof. But what the hey, why let facts ruin a good demagogic jeremiad? read more SecondhandSmoke
Scientists have created what is believed to be the first genetically modified (GM) human embryo.
A team from Cornell University in New York produced the GM embryo to study how early cells and diseases develop. It was destroyed after five days.
The British regulator, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), has warned that such controversial experiments cause “large ethical and public interest issues”.
News of the development comes days before MPs are to debate legislation that would allow scientists to use similar techniques in this country. read more TimesOnLine
When the creators of Proposition 71 spent tens of millions buying a constitutional amendment in California to permit human cloning research, they promised CURES! CURES! CURES! And what are people spending hundreds of millions of dollars of borrowed money on? EXPENSIVE FANCY BUILDINGS! EXPENSIVE FANCY BUILDINGS EXPENSIVE FANCY BUILDINGS! From the story in today's San Francisco Chronicle:
The governing board of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine is expected to give final approval today to a package of grants that will prompt a construction boom at academic campuses throughout the state.
More than three-quarters of a billion dollars in laboratory construction will get under way as early as next month, seeded by $271 million in facilities grants made possible by the passage of Proposition 71.
And not a workable building designed by "The General," that prefab contractor, either. We are talking high end, expensive architect, all the add-ons, type buildings.
read more Secondhand Smoke
Both opponents and supporters applauded a judge’s decision May 2 to rewrite part of a proposed constitutional amendment banning a particular type of embryonic stem cell research.
The decision by the Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District, was largely symbolic, though, because supporters of the measure are not soliciting signatures to get it on the November ballot.
Cures Without Cloning, the sponsoring group, would have needed to turn in about 150,000 signatures by Sunday’s deadline. The group said it hopes to try again to get the measure on the 2010 ballot.
At issue before the appellate court was a ballot summary of the proposal, written by Secretary of State Robin Carnahan, designed to explain the proposed amendment to voters. read more ColumbiaMissourian
A LEADING scientist has warned a new species of "humanzee," created from breeding apes with humans, could become a reality unless the government acts to stop scientists experimenting.
In an interview with The Scotsman, Dr Calum MacKellar, director of research at the Scottish Council on Human Bioethics, warned the controversial draft Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill did not prevent human sperm being inseminated into animals.
He said if a female chimpanzee was inseminated with human sperm the two species would be closely enough related that a hybrid could be born.
read more Scotsman
The British parliament could vote on the long-awaited and hotly-debated Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill as early as May 12. The measure would allow scientists engage in grisly human cloning projects involving the combination of human and animal parts.
The first main debate, or second reading vote, in the British House of Commons on the government's legislation is expected to be no less contentious than the discussion leading up to it.
Pro-life groups have castigated the government of Prime Minister Gordon Brown for putting England in the lead internationally in promoting and advocating the most unethical scientific experiments imaginable. read more LifeNews
Rep. Chris Smith introduced the Human-Animal Hybrid Prohibition Act, H.R. 5910, to ban the creation of part-human, part-animal hybrid beings. The legislation is timely as researchers are already tinkering with human-animal hybrid technologies. British scientists are actively perfecting the hybrid technique. On April 1, 2008 the BBC reported that, "Scientists at Newcastle University have created part-human, part-animal hybrid embryos for the first time in the UK."
The Act places a ban on the creation, transfer, or transportation of a human-animal hybrid. Human-animal hybrids are defined as:
1) A human embryo into which animal cells are introduced, making its humanity uncertain.
2a) An embryo created by fertilizing a human egg with non-human sperm.
2b) An embryo created by fertilizing a non-human egg with human sperm.
3a) An embryo created by introducing a non-human nucleus into a human egg.
3b) An embryo created by introducing a human nucleus into a non-human egg.
4) An embryo containing mixed sets of chromosomes from both a human and animal.
5) An animal with human reproductive organs.
6) An animal with a whole or predominantly human brain.
The matter is not only of interest to pro-life advocates. Environmental activists and those concerned for public health also have reasons to seek a ban on such experimentation. LifeSite 4.25
Scientists say they have coaxed human embryonic stem cells into becoming three of the major cell types in the human heart, and they improved cardiac function when transplanted into mice.
The findings, published in the journal Nature on Wednesday, showed that scientists can efficiently make different kinds of human heart cells for use in basic and clinical research. news.yahoo 4.24
Some Ohio lawmakers have proposed a ban on human cloning, saying it's unethical and unnecessary.
But the proposal is meeting resistance from scientists and the medical community because they say it could shut down research on a promising area of stem-cell research.
Scientists say stem cells from cloned embryos could one day lead to cures for debilitating diseases like cancer and Parkinson's.
But Delta Republican Sen. Steve Buehrer, who proposed the cloning ban, says cloning for research purposes and to create offspring is an unethical use of science.
The medical community agrees that cloning to create offspring should be banned.
The bill is set for another committee hearing in the coming weeks. WKYZ
A second bioethics watchdog has told LifeNews.com that claims the new announcement of a supposedly easier method of human cloning is hogwash. Yesterday, mainstream media outlets in Britain and the U.S. trumpeted a supposedly new method of making human or animal clones.
The media reports claim the new technique is safer than the one used with Dolly the sheep, that resulted in hundreds of dead embryos and its euthanasia.
Scientists made chimeras by injecting an iPS cell into an existing mouse embryo to create a so-called "tetraploid" embryo.
Two one-cell mouse embryos are fused together to make a single cell and then the iPS cell is surrounded by "tetraploid" cells in a mixture that reforms an embryo structure.
American-based Advanced Cell Technology representative Robert Lanza responded to the new technique saying it is "unethical and unsafe" and making it appear there is a problem with research using iPS cells. read more LifeNews 4.16
Scientists have now used the same iPS cell creation procedure to create baby mice from the skin cells of adult animals. Adult mouse skin cells, reprogrammed to become iPS cells, were inserted into early embryos produced by in-vitro fertilization (IVF). Some of the offspring were partial clones, known as chimeras, sharing the genetic material of both the original embryo and the inserted iPS cells. Other offspring were full clones, like Dolly the Sheep, completely matching the genetic make-up of the donor cell.
“It's unethical and unsafe, but someone may be doing it today," said Robert Lanza, chief scientific officer of American biotechnology company Advanced Cell Technology, a pioneering company in stem cell and stem cell reprogramming research. read more CNA 4.15
Sen. Sam Brownback, a leading pro-life advocate, is calling on the Food and Drug Administration to reject bids from two human cloning companies to start trials on humans with embryonic stem cells. Brownback says there are moral issues involved and medical risks for patients.
FDA officials are meeting with representatives of Geron Corp. and Advanced Cell Technology Inc. today to discuss the possibilities.
“I am deeply concerned that the Food and Drug Administration is discussing procedures for conducting experiments on humans with embryonic stem cells,” Brownback told LifeNews.com.
Brownback said the embryonic stem cell trials could easily put patients at risk and pointed to "devastating patient results" with trials several years ago involving fetal tissue from babies victimized by abortion.
"The problem was the cells were too immature and tended to form tumors or grow in uncontrolled ways that could not be reversed in the humans who underwent experimentation," the senator explained. read more LifeNews
The Food and Drug Administration is considering a request from two biotech companies to begin human trials involving human embryonic stem cells. The two companies involved have been claiming for years they were ready to start human trials but pro-life advocates are concerned problems still remain.
Embryonic stem cell research has not yet been successful in animals because of two significant reasons.
Unlike adult stem cells, when embryonic stem cells are injected as a treatment they form tumors and the immune system rejects the foreign cells.
Yet, Geron Corp. and Advanced Cell Technology Inc. both say they plan to start human trials this yet and are requesting FDA approval to do so. Both claim to now have tumor-free experiments involving animals. LifeNews 4.10
While pro-life advocates have repeated the mantra for years that embryonic stem cell research hasn't helped a single patient while adult stem cells have already been used in humans afflicted with dozens of diseases, a leading scientist in England is beginning to admit defeat.
Lord Patel of Dunkeld, the chairman of the UK National Stem Cell Network and a chancellor at Dundee University, says embryonic stem cell research is simply not working.
He conceded in an interview with the Scotsman newspaper that the controversial science may never deliver new treatments for diseases.
"In terms of embryonic stem cell therapy, there is currently no such therapy that is available in a large number of patients," he said. read more LifeNews 4.8
The embryos survived for up to three days and are part of medical research into a range of illnesses.
It comes a month before MPs are to debate the future of such research.
The Catholic Church describes it as "monstrous". But medical bodies and patient groups say such research is vital for our understanding of disease.
They argue that the work could pave the way for new treatments for conditions such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.
Egg shortages
Under the microscope the round bundles of cells look like any other three-day-old embryos.
In fact they are hybrids - part-human, part-animal. read more BBCNews 4.2
Scientists Excited Bush Stem Cell Research Policy May Change After Elections
Scientists who engage in stem cell research are excited that the policy President Bush has put in place about the practice could be overturned with the election of a new president. Bush prevented making taxpayers fund any new embryonic stem cell research with their tax dollars because it involves the destruction of human life.
However, each of the three major contenders for the presidency -- John McCain, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton -- have voted for bills to overturn those limits.
According to a San Jose Mercury News report, scientists at the recent Global Forum of the International Society for Stem Cell Research discussed the potential for the policy to be overturned quickly after the election of a new president.
But Dorinda Bordlee, the vice-president of the Bioethics Defense Fund, tells LifeNews.com the glee of cloning scientists may be premature.
On one hand, McCain appears more open to the pro-life perspective on embryonic stem cell research than before his presidential candidacy and top-flight pro-life advocates like Sam Brownback have been heavily lobbying him against it. LifeNews read more
Wisconsin Alumni Foundation Owns Embryonic Stem Cell Research
From Wesley J Smith, SecondhandSmoke
The rulings mean the foundation will continue to control primary
intellectual property rights to embryonic stem cell research in the United States. If that research leads to successful medical products or procedures before the patents expire in 2015, the school could win royalties.
The Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights and the Public Patent Foundation, which asked the patent office to throw out the patents in 2006, argued that their enforcement slowed U.S. stem cell research and drove some investment overseas.
So what is really going on here is a good old fashioned fight among capitalists over who gets to eat the biggest piece of the pie, as I pointed out here at SHS last year.
3.14
Federal Government Upholds Two More Embryonic Stem Cell Research Patents
Some say the battle over embryonic stem cell research funding is the main source of contention in the stem cell research debate. However, for scientists, it's about patents. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has upheld two more patents following a decision in February upholding another.
The Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, which holds the original patent on embryonic stem cells, has been a thorn in some scientists' side because it controls how scientists can use the controversial stem cells and how much it costs to use them. read more LifeNews 3.11
Say no to mini-me
Advocates of human cloning persist in their efforts to keep human cloning legal and, in some states, subsidized with taxpayer funds.
"Why? Critics of human cloning research have long argued that the drive for cures masked the real intentions of cloning researchers, namely, the pursuit of knowledge without boundaries or restraint. The humanist elements of our culture have long sought mastery of nature, and mastery over the creation of human life for some scientists represents the ultimate vindication of the power of the human species. But allowing scientists to tinker with the creation of human life through cloning subverts human dignity by turning humans into research commodities and giving one class of individuals unlimited power over another.
"A serious commitment to human rights by our government must include an aim to deal with issues as fundamental to human dignity as human cloning. Given that more than 70 percent of Americans believe that human embryo cloning should not be permitted, our government's silence on this issue is deafening." WashTimes
— Michelle C. Kirtley, writing on "A Surprise Consensus on Stem Cells," Feb. 29 at the Center for Public Justice
The prospect of having nine lives is no longer the preserve of cats. In a happy mix of science and commerce, man's best friend can now live again and again - if the owner is besotted and rich enough.
The South Korean stem cells scientists who produced Snuppy, a cloned Afghan hound, have received the world's first commercial order to clone a dog and are preparing to recreate Booger, a pitbull terrier from California. It is an order they hope will lead to the production of as many as 500 born-again pets each year. read more FTD 3.4
A South Korean scientist who once said he wanted to be as famous as now-disgraced stem cell expert Hwang Woo-Suk has been caught faking his study, news reports here said Saturday.
The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) said Friday it had suspended bioscience professor Kim Tae-kook for fabricating data in two papers, which had been hailed as breakthroughs and were published in two renowned journals.
The controversial papers include "A Magnetic Nanoprobe Technology for Detecting Molecular Interactions in Live Cells" published in Science in July 2005 and "Small Molecule-Based Reversible Reprogramming of Cellular Lifespan" released in Nature Chemicalbiology in July 2006. read more AFP 3.2
Biotech Firm to Provide Alternatives to Vaccines Using Tissue From Abortions
A biotech firm has announced it will offer ethical alternatives to some of the vaccines that currently rely on the use of fetal tissue from abortions. The Seattle-based AVM Biotechnology says it will produce ethical alternatives in the fields of biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, and vaccine development.
The news gives hope to pro-life people who have been reluctant to use some vaccines because their development came as a result of the destruction of unborn children.
“We will be working to bring commercially available, morally acceptable, vaccines to the US market and to use existing technology to produce new morally certified vaccines," says Dr. Theresa Deisher, the research and development director for AVM. read more LifeNews 2/29
Embryonic Stem Cell Superiority Myth is Crumbling
From SecondhandSmoke
With the exception of the Missouri media and perhaps, the New York Times, it is now clear that adult stem cells offer tremendous hope for treatments for a wide variety of ailments. The Journal of the American Medical Association reports some good news. From a video presentation:
Adult stem cell therapy has become a standard of care when treating several types of cancer. Now a review of clinical trials involving adult stem cells during the past ten years indicates they are helping patients who have a variety of diseases and even heart trouble. One patient diagnosed with multiple sclerosis says his symptoms are gone. Jennifer Mitchell explains in this week's JAMA Report...
Dr. Richard Burt and his colleagues at Northestern University reviewed the outcomes of about twenty-five hundred patients who had stem cell transplants. They found the cells appear to be putting some patients with autoimmune diseases into remission and are offering some improvement in heart patients who have suffered heart attacks... AUDIO:"It's a whole new approach to these diseases. Rather than just surgery or drugs that you can use, a cellular approach that seems in many different studies to be benefitting the patient." ... video presentation
Missouri: Judge rewrites contentious ballot summary for stem cell initiative
A judge rewrote the ballot language Wednesday for a proposed constitutional amendment banning a particular kind of embryonic stem cell research after supporters claimed the state’s original description was biased.
The ruling marks the second time that courts have struck down ballot summaries prepared by Secretary of State Robin Carnahan for contentious initiatives. Last month, a judge also rewrote the ballot language for a proposal limiting affirmative action programs.
Cole County Circuit Judge Patricia Joyce ruled that Carnahan’s summary of the stem cell amendment was “insufficient and unfair” but didn’t elaborate on why in her short written decision.
The ballot proposal would reverse part of a constitutional amendment narrowly approved by voters in 2006 that ensured all federally allowed stem cell research and treatments can occur in Missouri. That measure allowed the use of an embryonic cloning technique, which the latest proposal seeks to ban. Columbia Missourian 2/20 read more
Korean firm bids to clone dead pets
The world's first pet cloning service is to offer animal lovers the chance to recreate their dead companions, it was announced today.
South Korean company RNL Bio will work alongside scientists who created the first cloned canine. A company spokeswoman said it was already working on its first order from an American who wanted a clone of her dead pit bull.
The client, Bernann McKunney, of California, was very attached to the pet because it had saved her life during an attack by another dog.
Kim Yoon said that ear tissue from the dog had been preserved at a US biotech laboratory before its death.
DNA from the sample could now be used in an attempt to create a clone, she said, although the chances of success were about 25%.
RNL Bio is charging customers $150,000 (£75,000) for the clones, which clients pay only after they receive their new pet. Guardian read more
Minnesota House Panel Backs Measure Promoting Tax-Funded Human Cloning
A Minnesota House panel approved a measure on Thursday that concerns pro-life advocates because it would approve and fund human cloning and the killing of human embryos at the University of Minnesota. The panel voted 11-8 for the Kahn–Cohen Cloning Bill that would force taxpayers to fund destructive research.
A leading pro-life group told LifeNews.com that the bill promotes the destruction of human life on a scale never before seen in Minnesota, and also requires university scientists to kill all cloned human beings or face felony charges.
“This is the most shocking and dangerous threat to human life in years,” Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life legislative associate Jenny Hoelscher told LifeNews.com.
“It is difficult for taxpayers to believe that their elected officials are even considering legislation which would require such massive destruction of human life," she added.
SF 100 would allow millions of dollars in taxpayer funds to be used to kill living human embryos. Taxpayer funds would also be available to finance the cloning of human embryos for the sole purpose of destroying them for experimentation. LifeNews 2/14 read more
Biotech Company Hints at Embryonic Stem-Cell Therapy Testing on Adults for the Tenth Time
A California-based biotech company has predicted that embryonic stem-cell treatment tests on adult human beings could happen as soon as a few months from now. This is the tenth time in five years that such a prediction has been made, with researchers still awaiting the green light from the Food and Drug Administration to begin conducting the controversial research.
Geron Corporation, a leader in embryonic stem-cell experimentation, is eager to begin testing on human beings, despite the admission that any medical benefits from the treatment are likely years away at best.
Dr. Thomas Okarma, CEO of Geron Corporation, dismissed the notion of using adult stem cells instead of embryos, claiming that embryonic stem-cells are more useful. read more LifeSite 2/13
Nebraska Pro-Life Group Says Media Misreport Stem Cell Research Bill
A leading pro-life group in Nebraska says media outlets there are misreporting a new bill on embryonic stem cell research as a compromise between pro-life groups and legislators who want taxpayer dollars used on the destructive science. The organization says it can't support the bill and is working for alternative legislation.
At the end of last week, media outlets reported that a bill the legislature’s judiciary Committee approved on a 6-1 margin was supposedly a compromise between both sides. The measure bans human cloning for reproductive purposes but appears to allow scientists to clone and kill human embryos for research.
But Julie Schmit-Albin, the executive director of Nebraska Right to Life, tells LifeNews.com that the measure, LB 606, is not a compromise on bioethics issues and her organization, and other pr-life groups, don't support it.
She told LifeNews.com that the pro-life groups in the coalition “met and went through the LB 606 language section by section and found at least four egregious sections which would need to be addressed before some or all of our groups could even support LB 606.” read more LifeNews 2/9
Three-parent embryo formed in lab
The Newcastle University team believe the technique could help to eradicate a whole class of hereditary diseases, including some forms of epilepsy.
The embryos have been created using DNA from a man and two women in lab tests. It could ensure women with genetic defects do not pass the diseases on to their children.
So while any baby born through this method would have genetic elements from three people, the nuclear DNA that influences appearance and other characteristics would not come from the woman providing the donor egg.
Josephine Quintavalle, of the pro-life group Comment on Reproductive Ethics, said it was "risky, dangerous" and a step towards "designer babies". "It is human beings they are experimenting with," she said.BBCNews 2/5 read more
Men No Longer Needed?: Scientists Use Female Adult Stem Cells to Create "Female Sperm"
"'Female sperm', 'male eggs' and 'same-sex reproduction' - whether these terms fill you with hope or disgust, a reproductive revolution is already in progress," begins a recent New Scientist report on some of the most bizarre and disturbing scientific research being conducted by stem cell scientists.
"In a handful of labs across the world, biologists are trying to make genetically male cells develop into eggs, and female cells into sperm. If successful, their efforts might one day allow lesbian and gay couples to have children that are genetically their own," the report continues.
Scientists at Newcastle upon Tyne University in the U.K. claim to have already used adult stem cells to create primitive sperm, reports New Scientist. Karim Nayernia, a stem-cell biologist at Newcastle, made adult stem cells derived from male bone marrow develop into spermatogonia, and then coaxed the spermatgonia to undergo meisois, thereby becoming mature sperm with sufficient genetic information to impregnate a human egg. LifeSite read more
For the second year in a row, a bill authorizing stem cell research on embryos in New Mexico has been narrowly approved by the state Senate. The vote was 20-18 for the measure supported by Gov. Bill Richardson. It now goes to the House.
The legislation would allow research only on embryos slated to be destroyed at fertility clinics.
Allen Sanchez, executive director of the New Mexico Conference of Catholic Bishops, said the church regards it as a pro-life issue because it objects to "giving our state the authority to take human life."
Gov. Richardson, a Catholic, applauded the Senate, saying it "recognized that our clinical research laws are out of date, and we should move forward to conduct potentially life-saving research under careful conditions and important restrictions." LCSunNews 1/29 read more
A group seeking to expand medical research using embryonic stem cells in Michigan announced Tuesday that it has submitted language for a proposed constitutional amendment that would reverse the state’s prohibition on the destruction of human embryos for research purposes.
The Stem Cell Ballot Question Committee in Michigan wants to authorize the use of excess or unsuitable embryos from fertility clinics that “would otherwise be discarded unless they are used for research.” In contrast to legislation designed to open up research on stem cells, the ballot proposal also affirms Michigan’s law prohibiting human cloning. freep 1/29 read more
A team at the tiny San Diego biotechnology company Stemagen has become the first to document its successful cloning of human embryos by fusing donated egg cells with the DNA from skin cells of an adult man, according to an article that will be published online today by the journal Stem Cells.
The company's work, led by chief science officer Andrew French, is a major step toward creating embryonic stem cell lines from cloned human embryos, or cells that are specific to one person and capable of evolving into the 200 different cell types in the body.
Theoretically such cells one day could be used as a human toolbox: Someone's own embryonic stem cells could be transplanted into that person without the fear of rejection and could replace cells destroyed by diseases such as diabetes and Parkinson's.
The process, known as therapeutic cloning, has plenty of opponents because the embryo theoretically could be implanted into a woman's uterus for reproduction. 1/17 read more
American scientists are using tissue from aborted babies in genetically engineered mice to study how certain diseases are spread, and the experiments are being paid for with U.S. tax dollars.
Transplanting fetal tissue with the goal of helping to cure humans has been legal since 1993. On Jan. 22 of that year, President Clinton ordered Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala to remove the ban President Reagan had ordered in 1988 on federal funding of any "therapeutic transplantation research" that used human fetal tissue derived from induced abortions.
Congress later passed a law, Public Law 103-43, which states, "no official of the executive branch may impose a policy that the Department of Health and Human Services is prohibited from conducting or supporting any research on the transplantation of human fetal tissue for therapeutic purposes . . ." read more
A San Carlos startup is offering to create "personalized" stem cells from the spare embryos of fertility clinic clients on the chance that the cells, frozen and stored away, may some day help a family member benefit from medical breakthroughs.
The novel business plan of StemLifeLine Inc. - which started promoting its service to fertility patients earlier this year as "insurance for the future" - set off a flash fire of protest from stem cell research opponents and supporters alike.
"These companies are essentially taking advantage of people's ignorance and fears to make a buck," said David Magnus, director of the Stanford Center for Biomedical Ethics. full story
"So, let's be clear here: The reason companies such as this--which is charging $7000 to make the cell line and $350 a year for storage--is able to sucker people into destroying their own offspring for their own hoped-for medical benefit, is that "the scientists" hyped this research to the hilt to pass Proposition 71 and destroy the Bush funding policy. If consumers are confused, they and their media and politician camp followers deserve the blame for the confusion." -WesleyJSmith
Women who donate their eggs for research are at risk from life-threatening side effects, scientists warn in a new study. They say that the powerful drugs given to the volunteers to help increase the number of eggs they produce can cause paralysis, limb amputation and even death.
The warning comes days before the results of a review into a controversial decision to allow doctors to harvest eggs from healthy volunteers for research purposes. full story
