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IVF techniques – hardly a “quality label”
The EBART European Congress, held in Barcelona at the end of April, highlighted the fact that IVF techniques were mostly “based on supposition” and were “not scientifically proven”. To date, “only 14% of publications advising on medically assisted reproduction...
56 million abortions each year world-wide: a figure that is decreasing according to scientists
56 million abortions are performed throughout the world every year. A study published in the British medical journal, The Lancet, claims that this figure has “decreased perceptibly in developed countries whilst remaining stable in developing countries”. ...
14 May, Portugal and Great Britain – Walk for Life
In Portugal, whilst the Government is debating on whether or not to legalise euthanasia, the Portuguese Pro-Life Federation is organising its sixth Walk for Life to be held in Lisbon on 14 May. The organisers “hope that the initiative will clearly demonstrate public...
Embryo research: what’s happened to the 14 day limit?
Françoise Baylis, Canadian Chair of Bioethical and Philosophical Research at Dalhousie University is reviewing “the 14-day limit on human embryo research conducted in vitro”. This limit is contested since the recent announcement by an international team who kept human...
“ReAnima” trial: scientists attempt to bring clinically dead patients back to life
An American biotechnology company, Bioquark, “has just been granted permission to carry out a clinical trial aimed at documenting the possibility of bringing clinically dead patients back to life”. The study, which was registered in the official American clinical...
Australia denounces commercial surrogacy and calls for an international treaty
Last week, an Australian Senate Committee submitted its conclusions on surrogacy. It supports “altruistic maternal substitution”, arguing that this may be a solution nowadays for sterile couples. It is nevertheless calling for harmonisation of the legislation in the...
United States: heading towards extending the abortion reflection period in Louisiana
On Tuesday, the Louisiana Senate voted on legislation to extend the current abortion reflection period from 24 to 72 hours. Those in favour see this as giving women more time to make a decision whilst those against view it as a further obstacle for women who...
Researchers develop human embryos in vitro for 13 days and request authorisation to go further
An international team of scientists “reported the successful in-vitro cultivation of human embryos for 13 days before halting the experiment to comply with scientific recommendations relating to embryo research which are currently in force in several countries”. The...
Zika: Europe is worried
Yesterday, Catalonian Health Authorities confirmed the first case of fœtal microcephaly to be detected in Spain. The pregnant woman was infected by the zika and dengue viruses whilst travelling in Latin America. Today, Spain confirmed that 105 people, including 13...
Canada: legislation to prevent genetic discrimination
In Canada, a draft bill, unanimously adopted by the Senate, has been submitted to the House of Commons by MPRobert Oliphant. It is aimed at “preventing genetic discrimination”. Insurance companies can currently “demand genetic tests” or the results of a previous test....
Heidi Crowter, a young English woman with Down syndrome has a message for the Health Minister: “Don’t get rid of us!”
Some British people are against the new non-invasive pre-natal screening tests (NIPS), which the Government intends to introduce into the Public Health System and which “aim to stop more babies being born with Down syndrome”, “meaning that more will be aborted”and the...
CRISPR asks questions that should involve society as a whole
Following meetings on 28 and 29 April bringing together international medical academies to discuss CRISPR, Nathalie Cartier-Lacave, Inserm Research Director and President of the European Society for Gene and Cell Therapy (ESGCT), called for a discussion involving...