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Prenatal medicine – medicine associated with doubt and anxiety
In Ontario, the Government fully reimburses non-invasive pre-natal screening tests (NIPS) for Down syndrome in the case of "high risk" patients. In Quebec, however, couples pay for their own NIPS test. It costs approximately $500. The Health Minister is considering...
Modified pig organs to treat newborn infants
British doctors are considering modifying pig organs to transplant them in ten or so new-born babies with a genital deformity, namely oesophageal atresia. This rare condition prevents them from swallowing properly. It can be diagnosed in the foetus from the 20th week...
United Kingdom: will surgical abortion soon be carried out by midwives?
In the United Kingdom, Sally Sheldon, Professor of Law, has announced that the 1967 Abortion Act has been poorly interpreted to date. Supported by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, she claims that the law not only authorises doctors to carry out...
Belgium caught red-handed promoting eugenics
In Belgium, the Superior Health Council has just issued a notice concerning “generalized testing within the context of procreation”. Testing is suggested in order to identify recessive genetic diseases in healthy future parents. Reimbursed by social security,...
Human genome manipulation: caught between Hippocrates and Bellerophon
The ever-increasing knowledge we have of the living combined with technical advances enables researchers to make considerable progress in the care and therapies that are proposed to the sick. However, they come with ethically-questionable non-negligible risks. ...
United Kingdom: A biobank offers human embryo stem cells for clinical applications
In an attempt to "help scientists develop stem cell therapies, the United Kingdom stem cell bank is offering several human embryo stem cell (hESC) lines ready to be harvested" from the country's fertility clinics. This is the first biobank of its kind which seeks to...
In Canada, buses display : “Abortion kills children”
In the Canadian district of Peterborough, the town's buses have been travelling round for the past week displaying "anti-abortion" posters. These displays comprise three circles: "The first circle shows a photo of a 7-week foetus, the second circle shows a 16-week...
She gave birth whilst in a coma and woke up several months later
At twenty-five weeks pregnant, Amelia Bannan, an Argentinian police officer, was the victim of a car accident in early November and suffered head injuries. In a coma since the accident, she gave birth at 34 weeks (end of December) to a baby boy, Santino. On 7 April...
Pope Francis: “The principle of responsability must guide scientists”
On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the Italian National Committee for Biosecurity, Biotechnologies and Life Sciences, Pope Francis welcomed members on 10 April and encouraged them to "promote the harmonious development of scientific and technological research...
Parkinson’s disease: Heading towards promising, ethical treatment
People suffering from Parkinson's disease have difficulty controlling their movements due to the death of neurones that produce dopamine - a "chemical product that triggers cerebral signalling". A trial is currently underway to treat patients with Parkinson's Disease...
New tests based on human embryo stem cells to treat heart attack victims
In Professor Gordon Keller's laboratory at the McEwen Center for Regenerative Medicine in Toronto (Canada), scientists are developing cell therapy "to rejuvenate dead tissues and limit the risk of heart failure" in patients who suffer heart attacks. The...
A british judge authorises doctors to allow a baby to die against the parents’ wishes
Connie Yates and Chris Gard "uttered a ‘no!’ of despair" when the judge deemed that doctors at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London should switch off the life support machine keeping their 8 month-old son, Charlie, alive. Charlie Gard is suffering from a...