Six Developments in the World of Bioethics
‘Three-person IVF’technique moves closer
. Public opinion will help decide the future of a controversialgenetic technique to stop serious conditions being passed from mother to child(read about it in the BBC News). The technique involves takingmaterial from two different eggs and combining them to produce a healthy one.Would you want to be the human who gets to be the “trial” to see how well itworks? Me, either.
Brain Support Cells From Umbilical Cord Stem Cells
. For the first timeever, (adult) stem cells from umbilical cords have been converted into othertypes of cells, which may lead to new treatment options for spinal cordinjuries and nervous system diseases, including multiple sclerosis. (See thearticle at Medical News Today.)
Artificial Testicle Could Make Sperm for Infertile Men
. Researchers inCalifornia are attempting to make an artificial testicle that will producehuman sperm (see ABC News). But the director of the fertilityprogram at USC said it won’t be easy. “The processing of DNA is very complicated to go from aregular cell to a germ cell” like sperm, which have half the number ofchromosomes as other cells in the body. Not only do you have to split thechromosomes in half, but you also have to package the DNA in a very specificway. I think it will be quite challenging.”
Stop gendercide. Selective abortions are prompting a call forultrasound rules
. Such rules would require waiting until after 30 weeks or pregnancyfor a fetus’s gender to be revealed. According to an editorial in the CanadianMedical Journal (CBC News), in countries such as India, China, DeKorea, and Vietnam, female fetuses are commonly aborted because of a preferencefor sons. Though by no means widespread, the practice is also carried out bysome immigrants to Canada. Waiting to disclose gender till 30 weeks or latercould help prevent discrimination against females.
U.S. doctors and researchers have too many conflicts ofinterest. That’s the opinion of the U.S. government, which is now poised to require drug companiesto disclose the payments they make to doctors for research, consulting, speaking,travel, and entertainment (see story in the NY Times).
Abort half a pregnancy? Abortions—selective reductions—to reduce twin pregnancies down tosingletons bother the consciences of many pro-choicers. The Slate explores why.