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 …
HIV Eliminated from the Genomes of Living Animals
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 a more human-like immune system. These mice were then infected with the HIV virus, and eventually treated with a long …
CRISPR Babies: When Will the World Be Ready?
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 to stop any further research leading to gene edited babies. In spite of these warnings, a Russian biologist plans to …
Study Will Test CRISPR Gene Editing Inside the Body for the First Time
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 genes, one from each parent. This is a stellar example of the ethical use of gene editing in humans in …
The Immaculate Conception?
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 cord. The stated purpose of this breakthrough is to easily and quickly create vast quantities of test tube embryos for …
Omaha World Herald Op-Ed Feature
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
The Omaha World-Herald recently featured the birth of a precious baby girl, Uma. This birth was the result of a unique, complex effort by family members, each of whom was …
New Therapeutic Approach to Treating Osteoarthritis
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 in a safe and effective way. Once thought of as science fiction, “nanoparticles” have shown the ability to deliver this …
Human Cells Can Change Job to Fight Diabetes
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 were manipulated to operate as insulin-producing Beta cells, thus potentially leading to a new treatment for Diabetes. NCER supports this …
Harvard and the Brigham call for more than 30 retractions of cardiac stem cell research
You can rely on NCER to report life-giving ethical research successes, and to expose unethical, even fraudulent practices. Stem cell research has been replete with fraud, such as the Harvard Stem Cell Scandal, in which 3 researchers made claims that were unsubstantiated, resulting in thirty papers being retracted. Even more egregious is the common practice of deceitfully labeling aborted fetal tissue as “adult stem cells”.
As seen in STAT
By IVAN ORANSKY and ADAM MARCUS…