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Could human intelligence be genetically modified before long?
At a time when scientists have succeeded in modifying the intellectual capacities of mice by sequencing their DNA and when the Hinxton group is requesting authorisation to genetically modify human embryos, Laurent Alexandre, President of DNA Vision, is returning to...
Testimony: She wants to abort. He has no way of stopping her.
Tacitly, he admits being “on edge”. Tears are close. At around thirty years old, this young teacher has just witnessed his companion’s decision to abort, helpless. His face lights up when he speaks of being a father, the news of this baby to come had brought...
American Republican vote in favour of two draft bills against abortion
On Friday, the US House of Representatives adopted two draft bills against abortion – the one suppressing the public funding of the Family Planning Association for one year, and the other “adding criminal penalties to doctors who fail to provide medical care to babies...
Will Great Britain authorise the genetic implantation of embryos?
Last week, the HFEA, British Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, received a request from a scientist wishing to genetically handle human embryos for research purposes. “To our knowledge, this is the first request,”declared the HFEA spokesperson.[1] ...
Creation of in-vitro spermatozoa: revolution or repetition?
On 17 September 2015, the private company, Kallistem, a start-up company of the Functional Genomics Institute in Lyon, held a press conference on “cell therapy technology differentiating between germinal stem cells”allowing “morphologically normal spermatozoa to be...
The artificial hand “of the future” restores the sense of touch
On Friday, 11 September 2015, during a seminar, the American Ministry of Defence research laboratory, DARPA, declared that teams of scientists at the Applied Physics Laboratory, John Hopkins University, succeeded in fitting a 28 year-old male amputee with an...
MAP (medically assisted procreation): A new biomarker for the “more effective selection” of embryos
Professor Samir Hamamah and his team (Inserm U1230, CHU Montpellier), concerned by the In-vitro Fertilisation (IVF) failure rate[1], have carried out a study involving 117 women, the results of which have just been published in the PlosOne journal. These...
“Designer babies” between now and 2030?
Laurent Alexandre, President of DNAVision, highlights what the handling of human embryo DNA could trigger. In fact, the Hinxton group recently submitted an appeal to obtain authorisation to modify embryo DNA. From April 2015 onwards, Chinese scientists have been...
Great Britain: single man refused parental recognition of a child born through surrogacy
The United Kingdom High Court of Justice has refused to grant legal paternal status to a single man whose child was born through surrogacy. The petitioner is the biological father of the child who was conceived using the ovules of one woman and the...
The legal status on embryos in Europe
Carine Brochier from the European Bioethics Institute (EBI) takes stock of current embryo status in Europe. She refers to the recent ruling by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR): Parillo versus Italy, according to which an embryo cannot be...
An international ban on surrogacy is “the only answer to problems associated with this practice”
The Hague Conference – the intergovernmental organisation responsible for cooperation in terms of family law, is currently working on legislation intended to “focus on transnational surrogacy and facilitate the mutual recognition of direct lines of descent arising...
The United Kingdom rejects assisted suicide
On Friday, 11 September 2015, by 330 votes to 118, British MPs rejecteda draft law authorising patients with a life expectancy of no more than six months to take their own life. This draft legislation authorising assisted suicide triggered opposition from...