UNMC update PLUS Drugs to Treat COVID-19
NCER Comments:
As part of an NIH randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial, UNMC is currently studying the effects of the antiviral drug Remdesivir on COVID-19 patients. Outcomes seen as quickly as within 15 days are being monitored by a national independent safety board, and the unofficial results are positive so far. The UNMC “Quarantine Unit” (in addition to the critical care “Biocontainment Unit”) holds room for 20 patients who are among the first to be included …
COVID-19 Vaccine Update
NCER Comments:
Several COVID-19 vaccines are currently in development and being tested on a small number of humans. Janssen Pharmaceutical (Johnson & Johnson), Moderna and the University of Pittsburgh have chosen to use fetal cell lines obtained from abortions to create their vaccines, while Sanofi-Pasteur and Inovio are utilizing ethical sources such as insects and donated blood as their vaccine substrate. Using cells from aborted fetuses is unethical because it denies the value of human …
UN official Criticizes ‘Liberal Eugenics’ based on Disabilities
NCER Comments:
A UN official is drawing attention to the dangers of prenatal testing, selective abortion and IVF pre-implantation genetic screening because these procedures are precursors to euthanizing fetuses and newborns with disabilities. This practice vigorously promotes social discrimination of the disabled and consumer-driven eugenics. Every human being, no matter the imperfections, deserves respect and dignity at each developmental stage.
Sunday, April 26, 2020
by Michael Cook | 18 Apr 2020
A United Nations official …
Embryo Research to Reduce Need for In Vitro Fertilization Raises Ethical Concerns
NCER Comments:
In Mexico, women were paid to be artificially inseminated and then donate the resulting embryos for research. The women had to receive powerful hormone therapy, which carries considerable health risks, both immediate and long term. The goal of the study was to find a procedure that allowed parents with genetic abnormalities to give birth to healthy babies without having to pay for expensive IVF therapy. Instead of creating the embryos outside the womb …
Ethical Issues Surrounding Egg Donation in Genome Editing Research
NCER Comments
Are women who receive payment to donate their eggs able to fully understand the health risks (possibly cancer or death) entailed so as to give informed consent? Additionally, does this practice violate the ethical principle of Justice by taking advantage of vulnerable poor women? NCER believes this policy is unethical because it debases women and treats their eggs/DNA as commodities.
by Patrick Foong | 11 Jan 2020
Like any novel technology, there are …
For a Change of Heart, Would-be Egg Donors Face Threats and Bills
NCER Comments
There is very little legal oversight in the marketplace of selling human eggs, and women who initially agree to donate but then change their minds are often harassed and threatened by fertility clinics. Julie Johnson was one such case, and she changed her mind about donating her eggs when she realized the clinic was not concerned for her well-being, but only interested in exploiting her. Read her story below, along with other women …
He Jiankui faces three years in prison for CRISPR babies
MIT Technology Review
The Chinese scientist and two associates were sentenced after a secret trial.
The Chinese scientist who created the world’s first gene-edited children has been sentenced to three years in prison by a Chinese court.
He Jiankui, a biophysicist trained at Rice University and Stanford, shocked the world last year with his claim to have created genetically modified humans, twins referred to as Lulu and Nana.
In
Principles of Biomedical Ethics: Marking Its Fortieth Anniversary
NCER Notes:
Forty years ago, Bioethics was born out of the collaboration between Beauchamp and Childress, two ethicists with very different moral approaches- one based on obligation and duty, the other on the goodness of outcomes. They were able to merge the best elements of prominent philosophical theories on morality to create a new approach called Principlism. This new approach was widely accepted in the medical community due to its ease of practical application in …
Products That Use Aborted Fetuses
NCER Notes:
Is it ethical to use aborted fetal tissue in research? The practice of using aborted fetal tissue has been in the news lately with the trial of journalist David Daleiden, who filmed Planned Parenthood abortionists admitting they change their procedures in order to sell the “freshest” aborted fetal tissue to researchers. This kind of research has been ongoing for decades in a shroud of secrecy within a medical community that has become unfazed …
The newest gene editor radically improves on CRISPR
NCER Notes:
Research has shown that the CRISPR gene editing tool (which cuts out and replaces diseased DNA) holds great potential for healing disease, but currently poses a significant risk to humans due to frequent unintended mistakes, or “off-target” mutations in DNA. A solution is being pursued, but in the meantime, a new kind of gene editing, called “Prime Editing” has just been announced this week. Prime Editing uses much of CRISPR technology, but appears …