blog.bioethics.net
a Nature Top 50 science blog from The American Journal of Bioethics
Entries from blog.bioethics.net tagged with 'stem cells'
The November Issue of AJOB Is Now Online!
With H1N1 and flu vaccines on everyone's minds, the November issue of The American Journal of Bioethics couldn't be more timely. What do people think about the measures necessary to protect ourselves from flu? Do we, or more importantly should we trust our government to protect us in a pandemic?... (read the rest)
MercatorNet Asks (Ridiculously), "How Much Are We Entitled to Use Each Other?"
Jennifer Roback Morse on the MercatorNet blog reflects on the moral issues raised by the movie adaptation of Jodi Picoult's novel "My Sister's Keeper", oft discussed among the assisted reproduction crowd as the paradigmatic case of "savior sibling" gone bad. Yet Morse reduces what most regard as a fine novel... (read the rest)
Keeping Your Skin Youthful, The Stem Cell Way
Stem cells are, apparently, all the rage in the world of cosmetics. Slather them on your face to keep your face young and ageless or to simply make yourself more beautiful on your eyes, cheeks, or lips. New products like Lancôme's Absolue Precious Cells claim to "help restore the potential... (read the rest)
My Mommy Is My Daddy Is My Mommy
Stem cell research has the potential to change the standard gendered parental relationships by making it possible for women to produce sperm and eggs from stem cells say British researchers in the Globe and Mail. Better yet, a new Canadian "mockumentary" called The Baby Formula brings to the public's attention... (read the rest)
BioEdge and Charo's "Conspiracy of Hype"
One can hardly be surprised to find that Michael Cook's BioEdge blog would jump at the chance to take Alta Charo's remarks about the "hyping" of stem cell research as an all-too-easy chance to suggest that embryonic stem cell research generally has been oversold. To make the implication that a... (read the rest)
Swine Reputation To Be Saved! Pig Stem Cells On The Way!
Just as swine flu is about to reach pandemic proportions according to the WHO, pigs are about to have their reputations saved by a recent discovery by Chinese researchers who say that cells from adult pigs have the ability to be coaxed into any type of cell in the body,... (read the rest)
To Bank or Not to Bank? For Cord Blood, The Answer is No.
Much ado has been made over private cord blood banking when a baby is born for its potential someday to maybe save a child's life. New research suggests, however, that the likelihood of that eventuality coming to pass is incredibly small. According to WaPo the study published last month in... (read the rest)
Robertson Wants Stem Cells with Longhorns and Lonestars
On Wednesday in the Houston Chronicle, John Robertson argues for changes to the law in the Republic of Texas that would allow for embryonic stem cell research. He makes two major claims--first, that the Obama policy represents an emerging national consensus in favor of embryonic stem cell research and that... (read the rest)
Harvard Undergrads Getting into the Stem Cell Business
In the hopes of riding the wave of this week's Executive Order allowing federal research involving embryonic stem cells, Harvard University has announced a new stem cell biology undergraduate major. CBS News reports that the major in Human Developmental and Regenerative Biology will have classes on human genetics, aging, human... (read the rest)
Caplan Weighs In On Obama Stem Cell Policy
Arthur Caplan writes today in his MSNBC column that the US government finally has a "coherent stem cell policy." To watch a video of President Obama's announcement about lifting the stem cell research ban, click here. .msnbcLinks {font-size:11px; font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #999; margin-top: 5px; background: transparent; text-align: center; width:... (read the rest)
Stem Cell Treatment Tourism Reported on the Local News!
Southern Illinois Man Seeks Stem Cell Cure in China. That's the headline. From KFVS12, Live from the Heartland. Meanwhile, Midwesterners are raffling off big ticket items to make it possible for Chuck Melton, sufferer of a spinal cord injury, to make multiple trips to China, to receive umbilical cord stem... (read the rest)
Can You Hear Van Halen Playing In The Background?
A new report issued by the Center for Genetics and Society has been released titled, "Responsible Federal Oversight of New Human Biotechnologies: Opportunities for the New Administration". The document, found here is a policy brief that clearly outlines the ways in which the new Obama administration can RIGHT NOW lift... (read the rest)
Fertility Fix from Adult Stem Cells?
According to LA Times' Booster Shots, IPS cells have been coaxed into becoming germ cells that could allow infertile couples to conceive from healthy sperm and egg cells. Of course, this experiment is a long way from being safely or effectively performed in humans and like with most stem cell... (read the rest)
A Well-Timed Step Forward
Today, the FDA announced its approval of the first stem cell clinical trial in human beings. Geron will perform the trial on 10 spinal cord injured patients. To call this trial, "medical treatment" is the biggest overstatement one could make--and fully illustrates one of the biggest ethical problems with stem... (read the rest)
New Stem Cell Guidelines from ISSCR
Today the International Society for Stem Cell Research (www.isscr.org) is releasing "Guidelines for the Clinical Translation of Stem Cells," which co-chair of the ISSCR task force, Olle Lindvall, MD, PhD, calls a "roadmap." The long-awaited report condemns websites that hawk bogus stem cell therapies to the desperately ill. I chanced... (read the rest)
Caplan on Change Coming for Stem Cells
Arthur Caplan is conjecturing that the battle over stem cells may be coming to an end with the coming Obama administration, on MSNBC.com. Full-text of the column appears below: Obama election signals change in stem cell fight Battles over embryonic research and abortion may be coming to an end 'Change'... (read the rest)
Iran Loves Stem Cells
According to Payvand's Iran News, Iran's Cord Blood Bank has announced that the government of Iran will be investing $2.5 billion over 5 years to study stem cells. Not liberal in regard to much, according to Payvand, Iran is pretty lenient when it comes to stem cell research--even doing embryonic... (read the rest)
Michigan to Let Loose on Stem Cells?
Although polling in the weeks before Election Day 2008 did not look promising and there was fierce opposition to Michigan's Proposal 2 to loosen the state's restrictions on embryonic stem cell research, I can report that at 1:09 AM on November 5th the stem cell research ballot initiative was leading... (read the rest)
Stem Cells? I Don't Know, but I Want To.
According to the National Poll on Children's Health--only 11 percent of voters feel as though they know a lot about stem cell research, says University of Michigan Health Service. The silver lining? Data suggests that voters WANT to know about stem cell research, but they just don't know much yet.... (read the rest)
Michigan Stem Cell Battle
Now here's something you don't see every day: in Michigan, the opponents to Proposition 2, a bill about embryonic stem cell research, argue in a television spot that such a bill is "too costly to Michigan taxpayers", says the AP. Well, it turns out that Michigan Citizens Against Unrestricted Science... (read the rest)
Stem Cells: Try This At Home
I'm thinking about having a menstrual blood collection party. I've just discovered in my pile of goodies from the two stem cell conferences I attended this summer a pamphlet about how one can become a distributor of C'ELLE, a service unveiled last spring to enable women to, well, not flush... (read the rest)
A 1918 Flu Memoir
My grandfather was an amazing man, biologically speaking. He lived until age 103, so healthy that family lore has it that his cancer-ridden prostate actually grew back, apparently normal enough to have enabled him to survive another few decades. He ate his favorite food, deep fried crabs, until the... (read the rest)
Top 5 Stories of the Week on Bioethics.net
Just in case you missed them, below are the most-read news stories of the week from bioethics.net. Summer Johnson, PhD New possibilities for stem cell research 10 Aug 2008 - As America struggles with such weighty issues as the war in Iraq, the foundering economy and the run-up to a... (read the rest)
Suzanne Somers: Stem Cell Master?
In case anyone still has any misgivings about the promise of stem cell therapy, rest assured, for a new expert voice has emerged – the eminent scientist Suzanne Somers. Yes, she of Three’s Company fame is the new spokesperson for NeoStem Inc., about to launch a stem-cell-storage campaign in California.... (read the rest)
Discovered [Sort Of]: Personalized [Not Quite Therapeutic] Cell Stuff
The latest achievement in the stem cell research community was announced yesterday in ScienceXpress finding that iPS cells can be generated from ALS patients which then can be used to create healthy motor neuron cells. As the authors of study put it, the generation of iPS cells from these patients... (read the rest)
The Egg Man
Wesley Smith writes on Second Hand Smoke that there ought to be an outright ban on the a woman's ability to sell her gametes all together--for fertility treatments, stem cell research, or any purpose at all. He makes this claim that paying women $3000 to $7000 per cycle was troublesome,... (read the rest)
Gordon Brown on animal-human embryos
The UK's parliament is continuing to move forward on the country's Human Embryology and Fertilisation Bill. In a piece this past weekend in The Observer, the British PM argued for a legal framework that would allow for the creation of animal-human embryos: Embryonic stem cell research has always been controversial... (read the rest)
"Victimless" leather, and yet, there's still regret
Here's something you don't see every day -- or, you know, ever: a living coat made out of mouse stem cells. Yep, really. The coat was part an exhibition at MoMA called Design and the Elastic Mind. Here's how the piece is described on MoMA's site: A small-scale prototype of... (read the rest)
Looking ahead to "artificial" sperm and eggs
The possibility of sperm or eggs being created from pluripotent stem cells has been a hot topic of discussion in Britain over the last few months. The subject's come up as part of the broader debate about the upcoming vote on the UK's Human Fertilisation and Embryology bill. (The Britsh... (read the rest)
The gap between science and society widens on stem cells
By Ricki Lewis This is the first of a two-part post. Tomorrow, Ricki will examine how this gap is widening on genetic testing. The disconnect between what biomedical scientists know and what health care consumers believe is growing, particularly for stem cell treatments. The ability to send a skin cell... (read the rest)
The UK's debate over, well, almost everything
The UK has been involved in a rather intense political discussion about making changes to the country's Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority bill. Stem cells, chimeras, cloning and more all fall under this law. Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced this week that there would be a "free" vote on the... (read the rest)
Possibly a step towards solving the iPS cell tumor problem
The Yamanaka team announced in a Science paper today that it was able to induce pluripotency in cells taken from the liver and intestinal lining of mice -- and in the process they found that the retroviruses used to turn the cells pluripotent don't have to insert themselves at specific... (read the rest)
Human ES Cells for Huntington Disease – the Australian Way
By Ricki Lewis Palm Springs – I’ve been hearing about stem cells at scientific meetings for nearly a decade – from the yearly International Society for Stem Cell Research meetings, to stem cell symposia at various large conferences, to focused events such as the New York Stem Cell Foundation meetings.... (read the rest)
What President Bush said about stem cells in the State of the Union
Here's the section (whole speech transcript), which also includes mentions of cloning and intellectual property: On matters of life and science, we must trust in the innovative spirit of medical researchers and empower them to discover new treatments while respecting moral boundaries. In November, we witnessed a landmark achievement when... (read the rest)
Is New York's stem cell agency sidestepping ethics?
That's the accusation made by Daniel Sulmasy, a member of the Empire State Stem Cell Board's ethics committee. In an opinion piece this week in the NY Post, he writes that the ethics committee was first rushed to make interim recommendations -- and then essentially ignored: Ethics-committee members hold diverse... (read the rest)
Cloned human embryos coverage roundup
Here's a bit of the reaction to the report in the journal Stem Cells (pdf) that Stemagen, a California company, has successfully created cloned human embryos by fusing an adult skin cell with an egg (a process called somatic cell nuclear transfer or SCNT). + Stemagen didn't produce stem cells... (read the rest)
Flashback: where the presidential candidates stand on cloning
Back in November when news of cloned monkey embryos surfaced, we surveyed the leading presidential candidates' stands on cloning human embryos to produce stem cells for potential therapies. The issue was roughly split between Republicans and Democrats -- the Republicans generally against, the Democrats generally supportive. But the candidates have... (read the rest)
Art Caplan on cloned human embryos
Over at MSNBC, Art puts the news that a company has cloned human embryos into context: Stemagen, a private company in La Jolla, Calif., has published a paper in which its scientists claim they have successfully created cloned human embryos. If you think you have heard this announcement before, you... (read the rest)
Following up: "no destruction" embryonic stem cells, cocaine vaccine
Here are a few updates and extensions to earlier posts on blog.bioethics.net: New development on creating human embryonic stem cells; same answer from NIH ACT's Robert Lanza talked with MSNBC's Alan Boyle about ACT's claim this week that it had created embryonic stem cell colonies without harming the embryos from... (read the rest)
New development on creating human embryonic stem cells; same answer from NIH
A team from Advanced Cell Technologies (and other research centers) reports in Cell Stem Cell today that they have created colonies of human embryonic stem cells without harming the embryos from which the cells were derived. (ACT reported an earlier version of this technique, which involves removing one cell from... (read the rest)
New York's stem cell program picks up speed
We’ve got to say it every so often -- state stem cell programs are moving ahead, while the feds continue to languish. The most recent state to put money on the table is New York. Having gotten up and running in record time, the New York Stem Cell agency (NYSTEM)... (read the rest)
Thinking about stem cell research and intent
The New York Times profiles Shinya Yamanaka today and the piece includes a number of interesting details about his research. But the anecdote that stands out most is the one about what prompted him to pursue the creation of induced pluripotent stem cells. Shinya YamanakaFrom the piece by Martin Fackler:... (read the rest)
iPS cell therapy coverage roundup
As we reported yesterday, a team from Rudy Jaenisch's lab at the Whitehead Institute, along with a group led by Tim Townes at UAB, announced in Science that it has used induced pluripotent stem cells to treat sickle cell anemia in mice. + Jaenisch tells the Washington Post's Rick Weiss... (read the rest)
Induced pluriptoent stem cells used for therapy
A team from Rudy Jaenisch's lab at the Whitehead Institute reports this week in Science that it has used induced pluripotent stem cells to treat sickle cell anemia in mice. The researchers are touting the results as "proof of principle" that iPS cells can used for therapies, though they caution... (read the rest)
Glenn McGee in The Scientist: My Eye's On You
In his December column Glenn is thinking about how we'll look at visual enhancements: Picture-perfect vision, with lovely dark pupils and irises of any color you want. Who wouldn't want that? Every person who wears glasses or contact lenses, or who just has that classic wish of the pilot or... (read the rest)
Thomson takes on the conversation surrounding induced pluripotent stem cells
James Thomson and AAAS head Alan Leshner have a very direct op-ed in the Washington Post today about all the discussion surrounding induced pluripotent stem cells. It seems they're not too happy with what they've been hearing. Here's a clip: A new way to trick skin cells into acting like... (read the rest)
Following up: robot marriage, political (neuro)science and stem cell politics
Here are a few updates and extensions to earlier posts on blog.bioethics.net: And you thought gay marriage was controversial Back in October we posted an item about one researcher's speculation that human-robot marriage was at most 50 years away. Of course, this prompts the question that also sounds like a... (read the rest)
Do iPS cells mean an end to stem cell federalism? It might just mean the opposite
By James Fossett There’s been enormous speculation about the scientific and political consequences of the development of “induced pluripotent stem cells” (iPSC) by labs in Wisconsin and Japan for the entire stem cell research enterprise. One line of speculation, as described in an article by Rick Weiss in the Washington... (read the rest)
Stem cell searches trending upward again
Back in July we noticed that Google searches for the term "stem cells" were just about at their lowest level over the past 3.5 years. As you can see from the most recent chart above, it looks like that trend has turned around. That's not really surprising given all... (read the rest)
Politics and cell reprogramming
The political world is starting to weigh in on induced pluripotent stem cells. + The AP reports that some in the Republican party are calling the news the end of the discussion on the ethics and funding of embryonic stem cell research. + Among the GOP presidential candidates, it seems... (read the rest)
Looking ahead: induced pluripotent stem cells
The papers have been published, so what's next? Here are a few questions to keep an eye on: Can cells be reprogrammed into embryonic-like stem cells without the use of retroviruses? Quick biology overview: the teams in Japan and Wisconsin were able re-program skin cells by inserting four genes into... (read the rest)
Induced pluripotent stem cell press coverage roundup
+ In the Washington Post, Rick Weiss reports that scientists are talking about the news "with stunned elation reminiscent of scientists' reactions in 1997 to the cloning of Dolly the sheep." + "Everyone was waiting for this day to come. You should have a solution here that will address the... (read the rest)
Cells that look and act like human embryonic stem cells created from skin cells
As mentioned over the weekend, the papers reporting that scientists in Japan and Wisconsin have re-programmed human skin cells to become virtually indistinguishable from embryonic stem cells were published today. The Yamanaka team reports in Cell (pdf) (updated link) that it was able to create "induced pluripotent stem" cells using... (read the rest)
Are we in the middle of a shift in stem cell research?
Just a week after the news came out that embryonic stem cells had been derived from a cloned primate embryo, the stem cell research scene could be experiencing another significant shift. The UK's Daily Telegraph reported late last week that Ian Wilmut, the scientist who cloned Dolly the sheep, is... (read the rest)
Monkey cloning follow up
Semos, the monkey whose skin cells were used to create the cloned embryos A lot of details have shaken out since The Independent dropped the news that a team in Oregon had successfully created cloned monkey embryos: + The research was scheduled to be published in Nature later this month.... (read the rest)
Breaking down what really happened in NJ
By James Fossett Now that the dust has settled a bit and some of the pundits have weighed in, it might be interesting to figure out why the New Jersey stem cell bond proposal got beat. Polls up until the week before the vote were showing strong, but not overwhelming,... (read the rest)
Stem cell federalism flunks in NJ? Not.
by James Fossett One of the noteworthy things about American federalism is that one defeat is seldom decisive. What loses in one state can easily win in others where political conditions are more propitious, and the fate of any particular enterprise doesn’t rise or fall on centralized national decisions. So... (read the rest)
Following up on the NJ stem cell funding defeat
Over at Science Progress, Jonathan Moreno argues that the Garden State's "no" vote on stem cell funding is evidence that federalism might not be the best way to approach biomedical research funding: The New Jersey vote demonstrates that state-based investment in long-term science can easily get caught up in local... (read the rest)
Stem cell funding goes down in New Jersey
In what the New York Times is calling "a stunning defeat," voters in New Jersey rejected a ballot measure that would have allowed the state to borrow $450 million over 10 years to fund stem cell research. The Star-Ledger reports that the defeat doesn't seem so much about stem cells... (read the rest)
Frozen embryos get some colorful representation in court
Via Art Caplan and BioEdge comes this item by Wired's Kristen Philipkoski about a lawyer who has filed suit on behalf of a frozen embryo. Martin Palmer is suing California Institute of Regenerative Medicine chairman Robert Klein on the argument that the use of embryos for embryonic stem cell research... (read the rest)
Beyond Abortion: Evolving Stem Cell Politics
By James Fossett We’ve written before that political cleavages around embryonic stem cell issues and other public bioethical issues are increasingly different from conventional party alignments and even “red state/blue state” divisions around abortion and other “values” issues. Republicans are increasingly divided into pro- and anti-stem cell groups, and traditional... (read the rest)
NIH director publicly opposes Bush position on embryonic stem cell research
Via Art Caplan comes this item from Mary Ann Akers' WaPo blog "The Sleuth" in which she highlights Elias Zerhouni's statements of support for embryonic stem cell research in a recent NIH magazine. Here's a clip from the issue of NIH Medline Plus (pdf): (emphasis added) Klose: How difficult is... (read the rest)
2016
Over at The Stem Cell Blog, Christopher Thomas Scott files a report from the future. The headline: "Ailing George W. Bush to undergo stem cell therapy in London." It's well worth a read.... (read the rest)
Mitt's moment on stem cells
The 2008 US presidential election is still more than a year away and it's still way, way too early to predict what's going to happen (ask Howard Dean), but the general outlines of the situation are starting to come together. Mitt Romney won the Iowa Republican straw poll this past... (read the rest)
Who's funding stem cell research
by Jim Fossett We've been arguing for a long time here that states have been spending more on human embryonic stem cell(hESC) research than the feds, and now we have some numbers to back it up. In a piece just posted on the Rockefeller Institute of Government website, we try... (read the rest)
Stem cells fatigue?
The graph above depicts the trend in US Google searches for the phrase "stem cells" over the last 3.5 years. An annotated graph and a little discussion follow the jump.... (read the rest)
ACT creates embryonic stem cell line; keeps embryos alive
Advanced Cell Technology (ACT) announced in Nature Magazine in August of 2006 that they were creating embryonic stem cell lines from biopsied embyros. The headlines were a bit misleading, suggesting that this method did not result in the destruction of the embryos, when it did. Today, ACT announced at the... (read the rest)
Primate Cloned Stem Cells? Maybe.
China Central Television (CCTV) is reporting that US researchers (Shoukhrat Mitalipov of the Oregon National Primate Research Center) in the US have produced the first embryonic stem-cell line using SCNT (cloning) from rhesus monkeys -- and that they were able to get these cells to differentiate. The researchers reported their... (read the rest)
Bush Vetoes Stem Cell Research Act
Well, as expected, Bush has vetoed the recently passed measure lifting the restrictions on human embyronic stem cell research. As the New York Times notes, this vetoputs him at odds not only with the majority of voters, according to polls, but also with many members of his own political party.... (read the rest)
MAJOR NEWS: Sorry, Wisconsin: The Jig is Up on Patents in Embryonic Stem Cell Research
From The Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights in California and The Public Patent Foundation (PUBPAT) via Jon Merz comes the most important news in stem cell research since 2000:PTO REJECTS HUMAN STEM CELL PATENTS AT BEHEST OF CONSUMER GROUPS: Santa Monica, CA -- April 2, 2007 -- The U.S.... (read the rest)
What Happens with Stem Cells After 2008? More of the Same.
David Jensen, whose California Stem Cell Report remains the authoritative source for anything going on around stem cells in California, has been reporting on the proceedings of a stem cell conference being put on by Stanford and Burrell and Company. Several speakers have been apparently saying something we’ve been arguing... (read the rest)
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