John Paul II established the Pontifical Academy for Life (Pontificia Academia Pro Vita – PAV) whose specific task is to: a) study questions and issues connected with the promotion and defence of human life. b) foster a culture of life. c) inform the most relavant results of its study and research in a clear and…
Savior Siblings – PGD
Promoting PGD for child’s gender
A reproductive clinic in North Carolina is promoting PGD for gender selection… The $13,000 procedure, which isn’t always successful, involves stimulating a woman’s ovaries to produce numerous eggs — 10 on average — that are then fertilized, he said. After the embryo is grown in the laboratory for three days, a cell is tested to…
Stem Cell Research: Science and the Future @ NPR
This is a great program by Terry Gross and Author Christopher Thomas Scott who is the head of Stanford University’s Program on Stem Cells and Society. The title of his book is “Stem Cell Now”. He talks about pre implantation genetic diagnosis, Molly & Adam Nash, etc. The stem cell has become a common denominator…
Designer babies is ‘pie in the sky’ @ FT
Pie in the sky = A fanciful notion or ludicrous concept, broadly or extravagantly humorous, absurd, inviting ridicule.. A very good article at the Financial Times. Here’s what is happening: The press writes a lot about designer babies (sample of some articles I’ve found about designer babies) and some people read that and think that…
Concern over ‘spare part’ babies @ BBC News
I’m OK with ‘saviour sibling’… I call her that way all the time. I’m more or less OK with ‘designer baby’… It can get controversial.. But I’m NOT OK with ‘spare part baby’… I don’t like that. Concern over ‘spare part’ babies Children created as so-called “saviour siblings” to aid a sick brother or sister…
Subscribe to The Andy Blog
Subscribe to the Andy Blog and receive an email notifications to alert you of a new post. When you subscribe you will receive email notification alerts when any of the categories at The Andy Blog is updated. The Andy Blog has the following categories, Andy’s Update – News about Andy after his stem cell transplant….
Swiss approve PGD
I read about this on June 16. The procedure is permitted in many European countries including Britain, Denmark, Norway, France and Spain. The Swiss Senate has followed the House of Representatives in voting in favour of lifting the ban on screening human embryos for genetic diseases. Read article via SwissInfo here.
New York Times examines debate over PGD
The New York Times on Tuesday examined the debate over PGD. “According to a 2004 survey by the Genetics and Public Policy Center at Johns Hopkins University, about two-thirds of the respondents approved of the use of P.G.D. to prevent a fatal childhood disease and for tissue matching to save a sibling, said Kathy Hudson,…
CNN Dr. Sanjay Gupta talks about PGD
Dr. Gupta talked about PGD today, He’s a CNN senior medical correspondent, “People are using it solely for the purpose of sex selection…People are using it for reasons that are considered more cosmetic… You mentioned the word creepy…It is a little creepy its an ethically hazy area.” Dr. Sanjay Gupta Watch CNN video Dr. Sanjay…
PGD for cancer @ BBC News
Doctors have been given permission to screen a woman’s embryos for a rare form of eye cancer. Angela Donovan had retinoblastoma as a child and passed on the gene to her first son, Kieran, who underwent chemotherapy to get rid of the cancer. Fertility experts at University College Hospital London will test her embryos to…