Lab-Grown Bones Successfully Implanted in Pigs

New York Times June 22, 2016  by Nicholas Bakalar

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Above an image of regenerated bone grown from stem cells

The pigs, all 14 of them, are doing fine. Considering they’d been retrofitted with bone grown in a laboratory, that came as a pleasant surprise.

“The pigs woke up, and a half-hour later they were eating,” said Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic, a professor of biomedical engineering at Columbia University. “We thought they would be in pain. But no, …

In Search For Cures, Scientists Create Embryos That Are Both Animal And Human

NPR Rob Stein All Things Considered May 18th, 2016

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A handful of scientists around the United States are trying to do something that some people find disturbing: make embryos that are part human, part animal.

The researchers hope these embryos, known as chimeras, could eventually help save the lives of people with a wide range of diseases.

One way would be to use chimera embryos to create better animal models to study how human diseases …

Scientists are Conducting Experiments on Living Unborn Human Beings and Bragging About It

LifeSite News  BIOETHICS  Wesely Smith May 6, 2016

During the great embryonic stem cell research debate, promoters of an unlimited license to experiment promised that using nascent human life as research subjects would be limited to the first 14 days.

Until then, we were told, human embryos aren’t really human, just a “ball of cells”–pure junk biology. Well, if one wants to become truly reductionist, so are all of us.

During that era, I and …

Welcome to the CRISPR Zoo!

Nature  Sara Reardon 3/09/2016

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Timothy Doran’s 11-year-old daughter is allergic to eggs. And like about 2% of children worldwide who share the condition, she is unable to receive many routine vaccinations because they are produced using chicken eggs.

Doran, a molecular biologist at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) in Geelong, Australia, thinks that he could solve this problem using the powerful gene-editing tool CRISPR–Cas9. Most egg allergies are caused by one of …

CRISPR: The New Tool in the Gene Editing Revolution Explained

ABC Science By Bernie Hobbs Updated 11 Apr 2016, 11:03pm

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A powerful new gene-editing technology called CRISPR has enormous potential to treat human diseases but the ability to tinker with genes can also be controversial. Here we explain what CRISPR is and how it works.

Since gene technology first emerged over 40 years ago we’ve seen a wealth of genetic advances — not least of all the decoding of the human genome in 2001.

Key

Vaccines List

US & Canada – Aborted Fetal Cell Line Products

Disease Product Name Manufacturer Fetal Cell Line
Chickenpox Varivax, Varilrix Merck, GSK WI-38, MRC-5
Hepatitis A Vaqta, Havrix Avaxim, Epaxal Merck, GSK- Sanofi, Berna MRC-5 MRC-5
Hepatitis A & B
Hepatitis A & Typhoid
Twinrix
Vivaxim
GSK
Sanofi
MRC-5 MRC-5
Measles/Mumps/Rubella MMR, Priorix Merck, GSK RA273, WI-38
Measles-Rubella MR Vax
Eolarix
Merck
GSK
RA273, WI-38
RA273, MRC-5
Mumps-Rubella Biavax 11 Merck RA273, Wl-38
Rubella Meruvax II

Panel on Infant Lives Meets in Washington

BioEdge.org  March 12, 2016  by Xavier Symons

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Professor G. Kevin Donovan of Georgetown University testifying before the panel.

The US Senate Select Investigative Panel on Infant Lives met for the first time last week, in a heated session that saw several experts testify against the procurement of fetal tissue for research. The panel was convened following the release of several videos apparently capturing Planned Parenthood employees negotiating the sale of tissue to private research firms.…

Characteristics and Viral Propagation Properties of a New Human Diploid Cell Line, Walvax-2, and its Suitability as a Candidate Cell Substrate for Vaccine Production

National Library of Medicine, National Institute of Health  11/4/2015

Ma,B1, He LF, Zhang YL, Chen M, Wang LL, Yang, HW, Yan T, Sun MX, Zheng CY

Abstract

Human diploid cell strains (HDCSs), possessing identical chromosome sets known to be free of all known adventitious agents, are of great use in developing human vaccines. However it is extremely difficult to obtain qualified HDCSs that can satisfy the requirements for the mass production of vaccines. We have

Ethicists Approve ‘3 Parent’ Embryos to Stop Diseases, but Congressional Ban Remains

The Washington Post Feb 3, 2016  by Joel Achenbach

An elite panel of scientists and bioethicists offered guarded approval Wednesday of a novel form of genetic engineering that could prevent congenital diseases but would result in babies with genetic material from three parents.

The committee, which was convened last year at the request of the Food and Drug Administration, concluded that it is ethically permissible to “go forward, but with caution” with mitochondrial replacement techniques …

NCER Open Letter to FDA Committee Regarding Gene Editing

Attn: Michael Berrios

The Committee on Ethical and Social Policy Considerations of Novel Techniques for Prevention of Maternal Transmission of Mitochondrial DNA Diseases

 

Dear Committee Members:

There are at least five reasons why the Board of Directors of the Nebraska Coalition for Ethical Research recommends that the FDA deny licensure for the use of mitochondrial techniques in U.S. fertility clinics or research laboratories.

 

  • The pronuclear transfer technique of mitochondrial replacement (MR) involves the