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IVF: a new sperm selection tool
A team from Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) in conjunction with Stanford University has developed a sperm-sorting device to select the "healthiest" sperm for in-vitro fertilisation. Known as "SPARTAN" - Simple Periodic ARray for Trapping and isolatioN -...
Eye cell therapy: discoveries based on induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells
Studies just published in the Cell Reports journal by scientists at the National Eye Institute (one of America's national health institutes) and the Molecular Physiology Institute at Johannes-Gutenberg University, Germany, "could have strong implications in the...
Surrogacy abroad. French clientele
In France and without any official figures to back their findings, the main associations promoting the legalisation of surrogacy [1] believe that approximately 370 couples or single people had babies via this route in 2017 with the total number of children...
Belgium: resignation from the Commission for Euthanasia Control
In Belgium, a decision taken by the Commission fédérale de contrôle de l’euthanasie (CFCEE - Federal Commission for Euthanasia Control) has led to the resignation of one of its members - a consultant and advocate of euthanasia. He commented that, "This Commission does...
Surrogacy abroad. “An attempt to go through the window when the door is firmly closed”
In Singapore, a man's application to adopt his biological son born through surrogacy in the United States, has been rejected. The court held that "the steps allowing him to have a child in the United States would not have been possible in the island state that does...
Can CRISPR prevent hearing loss?
In the journal Nature, Professor David Liu and his colleagues report that one injection of a "genome editing cocktail" prevented hearing loss in young mice that would otherwise have gone deaf. Half of all cases of deafness have a genetic root, but...
“For the elderly, life expectancy is less important than quality of life”
In 2014 and 2015 in Belgium, "62.8% of euthanasia cases involved individuals over 70 years of age". The proportion of deaths by euthanasia has increased in retirement homes from 5% in 2002 to 12% in 2015. Christian Mutuality (CM)[1] warns against a society in...
In Quebec, assisted suicide meets with reluctance from doctors
In the Laval region of Quebec, 77% of doctors who received a medically assisted dying request, "invoked conscientious objection". Surveys "carried out during assisted dying debates" showed that, although the doctors interviewed were not theoretically opposed to...
Heily, born alive following an abortion, is on the road to recovery
Heily Delage, now five months old, "is a real-life miracle," according to her parents. Eight months into the pregnancy, she was diagnosed with a "serious brain condition". Following a medically recommended abortion, the baby was born alive last July. ...
United States: 32 family planning centres closed in 2017
According to a study published by the organisation American Life League, 32 Planned Parenthood centres[1] closed their doors in 2017. Two clinics closed in Colorado, four in California, and three each in Arizona, Iowa, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The same...
Woman gives birth to a baby girl from an embryo frozen 24 years ago
Twenty-five years ago, after undergoing in-vitro fertilisation, an anonymous couple donated frozen embryos to "give a chance to those unable to conceive a child naturally". For their part, Tina and Benjamin Gibson knew when they got married that they...
United States: fertility doctor given one-year suspended sentence
Thirty years ago, Doctor Donald Cline, a retired fertility doctor from Indianapolis (USA), used his own sperm "approximately 50 times" to inseminate patients. He has just been given a one-year suspended prison sentence by the Marion Superior Court (USA). Judge...