NCER Notes: With more than 36 M HIV infected people worldwide, and over 1 M living in the U.S., a cure for the disease is fervently sought. Researchers at our own UNMC in Omaha, Ne. believe they have found that cure! Mice were injected with human stem cells from cord blood in order to create […]
NCER Notes: As an alarming example of how the gene editing of embryos can be dangerous, the first gene edited babies born in China last year now have a high probability of a significantly shorter lifespan due to unexpected consequences of the editing. Because of this outcome, the World Health Organization has asked all countries […]
Notes from NCER: In hopes of receiving sight, adults and children with an inherited form of blindness will have their genes edited in the first ever treatment that will alter patients’ native DNA using CRISPR. The specific condition, Leber congenital amaurosis, is rare (3 out of 100,000), and occurs when a child inherits two flawed […]
NCER Notes With a discovery straight out of science fiction, researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have taken us one step closer to human reproduction without the need for eggs and sperm. How is this possible? They have discovered the genes necessary to transform human skin cells into an embryo, it’s placenta and umbilical […]
NCER had the opportunity to comment in the Midlands section of the OWH concerning the ethics of IVF which was used in a complex and unusual birth last month at UNMC. Midlands Voices: Complex births raise profound bioethical challenges By Carol Szczepaniak May 4, 2019 The Omaha World-Herald recently featured the birth of a precious baby […]
NCER Notes In a currently common scenario, a husband and wife create and freeze human embryos with the stipulation that should their marriage end, any remaining embryos will be destroyed. Fast forward, the couples marriage ends in divorce, but one decides they want to keep said remaining embryos. Now the state Supreme Court will decide […]
From NCER: In response to the blatant breach of ethics with the birth of DNA-modified twins last year in China, seven of the most powerful international scientific research entities have joined forces to propose a global moratorium on editing heritable DNA to create genetically-modified children. Thirty nations already have banned this research, and while this […]
From NCER: Almost 27 million Americans suffer from painful osteoarthritis, caused by the degeneration of cartilage and bone. As the “Baby Boomer” population ages, this number will significantly surge, leading to a medical health crisis. Researchers from Texas A&M believe they have found a successful way to deliver “therapeutic growth factor” treatment to affected joints […]
From NCER: Until now, all adult cells were thought to permanently execute one function. For the first time ever, researchers collaborating from several universities have discovered that adult somatic cells can be influenced to change from their original role to perform as a different cell type. In the study, glucagon-producing Alpha cells from the pancreas […]
Due to the generosity of supporters, a representative of NCER was one of only 400 attendees at the Second International Genome Editing Summit in Hong Kong, 11/2018. There, a bombshell report broke that one of the Chinese scientists scheduled to speak at the Summit announced he used the CRISPR gene tool to edit the DNA […]
