stem cells

This Week in Bioethics

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1. Can We? Should We? Our Christopher White this week highlighted two ways in which President George W. Bush’s decision — now 15 years ago — to limit federal funding for embryo destructive stem cell research has been vindicated. First, non-embryonic (aka adult) stem cells have proven to be much more powerful and useful that […]

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This Week in Bioethics

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1. Countering Physician Assisted Suicide: A How To Guide Ashton Ellis, one of our Paul Ramsey Institute Fellows, wrote a very insightful article on the ways in which proponents of physician assisted suicide have engaged in an active, and sadly very successful, campaign to spread the word that doctors in California may now legally kill […]

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This Week in Bioethics

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1. UNFPA Announces Opposition to Commercial Surrogacy The Phnom Penh Post reports that the United Nations Population Fund opposes the legalization of commercial surrogacy. This is an important development as Cambodia considers how surrogacy should be treated in the country in the wake of high-profile surrogacy scandals in Thailand, India, and Nepal. “Reproductive health, surrogacy, […]

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This Week in Bioethics

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1. Hippocratic Telemedicine? Perhaps, like me, you have received emails from your health insurance company or seen ads on your social media letting you know about options that will allow you to “see” a health care provider by phone, email, webcam, or even text. According to the Wall Street Journal, if you haven’t received such […]

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This Week in Bioethics

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1. Call for Open, Transparent Discussion Denied Last Friday, 150 scientists, physicians, and bioethicists released an open letter calling for the World Health Organization (WHO) to consider moving or postponing the upcoming Olympic Games because of how much we simply do not know about the Zika virus, which is epidemic in Brazil. Specifically, the call […]

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This Week in Bioethics

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1. Euthanasia Expansion If you need any evidence that the arguments in support of euthanasia or assisted-suicide are specious, read this story. A young woman in the Netherlands chose euthanasia by lethal injection. What was her terminal illness? She didn’t have one. Did she have less than six months to live? There is no evidence […]

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This Week in Bioethics

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1. NJ Physician Assisted Suicide Bill Fails Earlier this week a bill to legalize physician assisted suicide in New Jersey failed due to lack of support in the state senate. While we’re grateful for this victory, we also know that supporters of physician assisted suicide will be eager to pounce again in the very near […]

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This Week in Bioethics

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1. Adult Stem Cell Treatment Effective Against MS Science Alert reported earlier this week that blood stem cells are proving effective in treating multiple sclerosis patients. This is a very promising development as it once more proves that adult stem cells can be successfully used for healing and treatment—eliminating the need for embryonic stem cells. […]

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2014 Ramsey Award Winner Speaks Out Against Embryonic Stem Cell Research

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A scientist from Harvard, Dr. Doug Melton, has figured out how to use human embryonic stem cells to produce insulin—a potential major breakthrough for those that suffer from diabetes. You can listen to a full NPR broadcast on the discovery here. Dr. Daniel Sulmasy, last year’s winner of CBC’s Ramsey Award, was interviewed by NPR […]

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Media Share Blame for Stem Cell Research Fraud

Writing in Slate, Jane C. Hu uses the high profile stem cell research lies we have seen in recent years to launch into an interesting article entitled, “Why Do Scientists Commit Fraud?” She discusses the recent bogus claim that skin cells could be turned into stem cells with chemicals (not the same thing as the […]

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Get Ready for a Busy 2014 in Bioethics

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My taskmasters at the CBC never allow me to rest on my laurels. Fresh off several years of stellar prognosticating, I am now forced to answer the question: “But what have you predicted, lately?” Okay, let’s take a look. Oh! Oh my. Please remember, the following predictions are what I see happening. They do not […]

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The Human Cloning Goal Behind Stem Cell Cures

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Buried deep in an encouraging story about another advance in turning skin cells into stem cells, we see more evidence of biotechnology’s ultimate human cloning goal. First, the good news. An acid bath may be able to replace viruses in transforming skin cells into stem cells that can become any type of cell in the […]

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Follow $ to Non-Embryonic Stem Cell Research!

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Ten years ago, we were in the midst of a heated national debate over embryonic stem cell research (ESCR). Proponents castigated opponents (like me) as “anti-science,” and theocratic for opposing ESCR federal funding based on ethical concerns. When we claimed that alternatives to embryonic stem cells showed great promise, we were derided as Luddites. Embryonic […]

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Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Without Genes

The progress on induced pluripotent stem cells continues. Until now, the only way to turn a skin cell into a stem cell was to use genes to “reprogram” the cell. Now, it has been done with chemicals in mouse studies. From the Nature story: Scientists have demonstrated a new way to reprogram adult tissue to […]

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No Stem Cell or Human Patenting!

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I never understood why patents were ever allowed for embryonic stem cells. They are not human inventions. They — like genes — are naturally occurring. Accordingly, the European courts have rejected stem cell patents. The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected gene patents. Now, challenges are underway against U.S. patents of embryonic stem cells. From the […]

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Federal Bill to Legalize (and Fund?) Human Cloning

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As Yogi Berra once said, “It’s deja vu all over again.” Representatives Diana Digette (D-CO) and Charlie Dent (R-PA) have introduced a mendacious bill requiring the federal government to conduct and support for stem cell research. It also provides a guarantee of funding for embryonic stem cell research. But I think the real point is […]

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Allow Human Organs Grown in Animals?

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A story in the Telegraph claims that Japanese scientists may soon grow human organs in animals — made from human stem cells — for later use in transplant surgery. I am dubious. From the story: A panel of scientists and legal experts appointed by the government has drawn up a recommendation that will form the […]

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Umbilical Stem Cells Wake Up PVS Child

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Wow. A child with cerebral palsy who suffered a cardiac arrest and became — they thought — permanently unconscious, appears to have been successfully treated with his own stored umbilical cord blood stem cells. From the ScienceDaily story: Bochum’s medics have succeeded in treating cerebral palsy with autologous cord blood. Following a cardiac arrest with […]

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