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Japan extends access to NIPS
The Japanese Obstetrics and Gynaecology Society is scheduled to meet in March to discuss extending access to non-invasive pre-natal screening (NIPS) for Down syndrome and including antenatal tests in general medicine. NIPS, which was introduced in Japan in...
Induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells obtained through CRISPR
CRISPR should allow induced pluripotent stem cells to be obtained more easily from skin cells. This is the observation made by Gladstone Institute scientists who have worked on reprogramming murine cells by activating two specific cells using CRISPR. "We didn't think...
Belgian nurses leave palliative care units known as “euthanasia institutions”
Belgian nurses and social workers specialising in end-of-life care are leaving palliative care units because they are becoming transformed into "euthanasia institutions". A large number of hospital staff are leaving this sector because they do not want their work...
China: first primates cloned by nuclear transfer
"A Chinese team has just cloned the very first primates with the technique used on Dolly the ewe in 1996". Highlighted in the Cell journal on 24 January, the birth of these two Macaque monkeys[1], Zhong Zhong and Hua Hua, has generated "biological shockwaves of...
Changes in recourse to abortion in the Netherlands
Since 2000 (with the exception of 2015), the number of abortions practised in the Netherlands has been declining. This was highlighted in a report published by the Dutch Health and Youth Inspectorate on 17 January. In 2016, 30,144 women had an abortion compared...
Algorithm to predict death is approved in the United States
In the United States, the FDA has approved "the very first algorithm to monitor vital signs in patients in order to predict potentially fatal events a few hours before they occur". Developed by the ExcelMedical Company, this form of "artificial intelligence" detects...
The end of gamete donor anonymity challenged
For clinicians Geneviève Delaisi de Parseval and Stéphane Viville, although genetic testing has already put an end to guaranteed gamete donor anonymity, "structured, welcome access to origins must be arranged". Without overlooking the need for a "debate on access to...
Elderly patients and intensive care units: different practices across Europe
A European study has highlighted variations in the practices of resuscitation and intensive care units, particularly with regard to admission, discharge and treatment procedures for the very elderly. Using a questionnaire, researchers have recorded the opinions of...
“There’s still time to promote healing medicine versus dehumanising technique”
Just days after the launch of États Généraux (Estates General) on Bioethics, Marianne Durano, Philosophy Graduate and author of Mon corps ne vous appartient pas (My body doesn't belong to you), published an article in Le Figaro in which she denounced the "mock debate...
CRISPR: “premature” clinical trials in China?
Whereas the first human gene therapy clinical trial involving CRISPR-Cas9 is about to begin in the United States[1], the Wall Street Journal has reported that, in China, "at least 86 individuals" have already taken part in gene-editing experiments. Eleven clinical...
Man is given a second face following initial transplant rejection
The patient underwent face transplant surgery six years ago. In November, "the severity of the rejection" became chronic with necrotic plaque formation, and doctors were obliged to remove the transplant as his life was in jeopardy. Since then the man has been "cared...
Genetic data – the financial issues
Today, for less than $100, it is possible to purchase a genetic test on the Internet "which promises to provide information relating to a person's geographical origins or even to identify an extensive family tree". The market is dominated by two rival start-ups,...