A Yellow Light for Embryo Editing
Jocelyn Kaiser Science Feb 17,2017
Editing the DNA of a human embryo to prevent a disease in a baby could be ethically allowable one day—but only in rare circumstances and with safeguards in place, says a widely anticipated report released today.
The report from an international committee convened by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences (NAS) and the National Academy of Medicine in Washington, D.C., concludes that such a clinical trial “might be permitted, but …
Human Adult Stem Cells (iPS) Have Been Found to be Most Clinically Useful Human Cells for Therapeutic Purposes
Justo Aznar Bioethics Observatory Catholic University of Valencia
Human adult stem cells (iPS) have been found to be most clinically useful human cells for therapeutic purposes.
Pluripotent cells (PCs) are defined as those from which cells of different tissue types can be obtained. These can be obtained either from preimplantation human embryonic cells, in which case pluripotent embryonic stem cells are obtained, or from somatic (adult) cells that can be reprogrammed to a state of …
The Ethical Dilemma of Designer Babies
Genetically modified people is no longer a science fiction fantasy; it’s a likely future scenario. Biologist Paul Knoepfler estimates that within fifteen years, scientists could use the gene editing technology CRISPR to make certain “upgrades” to human embryos — from altering physical appearances to eliminating the risk of auto-immune diseases. In this thought-provoking talk, Knoepfler readies us for the coming designer baby revolution and its very personal, and unforeseeable, consequences.…
Ethicists Advise Caution in Applying CRISPR Gene Editing to Humans
February 14, 2017 By Joel Achenbach The Washington Post
Ethicists have been working overtime to figure out how to handle CRISPR, the revolutionary gene-editing technique that could potentially prevent congenital diseases but could also be used for cosmetic enhancements and lead to permanent, heritable changes in the human species.
The latest iteration of this ongoing CRISPR debate is a report published Tuesday by the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Medicine. The …
Scientists Can Now Grow a Beating Human Heart from Stem Cells
Indy100.com by Louis Dore in tech January 2017
A team of scientists from Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School have used adult skin cells to regenerate functional human heart tissue.
The study, published in the journal Circulation Research, detailed that the team took adult skin cells, using a technique called messenger RNA to turn them into pluripotent stem cells, before inducing them to become two different types of cardiac cells.
Then for two weeks …
Sperm and Eggs Grown in a Petri Dish Could Revolutionise Reproduction
Michael Cook BioEdge Jan 14, 2017
The imminent arrival of eggs and sperm grown from skin cells makes legislative change imperative, three Ivy League professors argue in the journal Science Translational Medicine.
IVF was a game-changing technology, write Glenn Cohen, of Harvard Law School, George Q. Daley, of Harvard Medical School, and Eli Y. Adashi, of Brown University, but IVG – in vitro gametogenesis – could revolutionise reproduction.
Although at the moment IVG has …
Scientists Create a Part-Human, Part-Pig Embryo — Raising the Possibility of Interspecies Organ Transplants
Washington Post Jan 26, 2017 Sarah Kaplan
For the first time, scientists have grown an embryo that is part-pig, part-human.
The experiment, described Thursday in the journal Cell, involves injecting human stem cells into the embryo of a pig, then implanting the embryo in the uterus of a sow and allowing it to grow. After four weeks, the stem cells had developed into the precursors of various tissue types, including heart, liver and neurons, and …
NCER speaks out on CRISPR/Cas9 (Video)
Hear what Nebraska Coalition for Ethical Research has to say on the latest in gene editing and its use via CRISPR/Cas9.…
Is There a Last-Minute Hitch With 3-Parent Embryo Trials?
December 11, 2016 BioEdge Michael Cook
Just as scientists in the UK are about to begin clinical trials with three-parent embryos, a study in Nature asserts that it may not work for some patients.
The technique is intended to help women who are carriers of mitochondrial disease to give birth to healthy children. The nuclear DNA is removed from an egg cell, leaving the diseased mitochondria behind; then the DNA is inserted into another woman’s …