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Top News Stories for Week Ending
13September |
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Monday, 09 September
UK Stem Cell Bank To Begin Operations Within a Year--
The UK Medical Research Council has awarded £2.6 million contract, ear-marked for the establishment of
a stem cell bank, to a government-funded health care body. The bank will hold and
reproduce stem cell lines from existing and new adult,
fetal, and embryonic stem cells. Critics are worried
about couples being pressured into donating
"surplus" embryos to the bank....
BBC - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/2245863.stm
Belgian
Clinic Offers Sex Selection--
Couples who want to choose the sex of their child can now do
so at a clinic in Belgium. The clinic mails frozen
sperm to the MicroSort company in Fairfax, Virginia where
technicians use a sperm-sorting technique to separate sperm
with the X chromosome from those carrying the Y
chromosome....
Guardian Unlimited Observer -
http://www.observer.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,6903,788137,00.html
Contraceptive
Patch Gets Approval in European Union--
Instead of taking a daily pill, European women who want to
avoid pregnancy can wear a patch. The patch lasts for
a week and is used three weeks in a row. The fourth
week is patch free. Some hope this will further reduce
unwanted pregnancies....
BBC - http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/2241344.stm
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Tuesday, 10 September
Early Flaws in Gene Programming May Doom Clones--
Researchers at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical
Research in Boston have demonstrated that animal cloning jeopardizes the integrity of an
animal's entire genetic make-up, many times leading to
severe abnormalities due to problems of gene expression.
The question now is whether those same abnormalities would
doom treatments derived from cloned embryos....
Wired - http://www.wired.com/news/medtech/0,1286,55043,00.html
Hopes
Raised of Using Adult Stem Cells to Treat Muscular Dystrophy--
There is now evidence that adult bone marrow stem cells may
be used to treat people suffering from muscular dystrophy.
A boy who received a bone marrow transplant at 1 was
discovered to suffer from muscular dystrophy at age 12.
However, the donor's bone marrow cells have been discovered
in the boy's muscles, offering hope that bone marrow stem
cells may be able to treat the disease....
New York Times - http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/10/health/genetics/10MARR.html
More
U.S. HMO's Pulling Out of Medicare--
About 200,000 people currently in HMO's who contract with
Medicare are expected to be dropped from coverage next year.
Those dropped can enroll in another HMO if available.
If not, a significant drop in services is likely as people
move to traditional Medicare coverages....
New York Times - http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/10/national/10HMO.html
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Wednesday, 11 September
We remember the sacrifice made one year ago today. Our
prayers are with the families and friends of those lost.
Women
Officially File Suit for Control Over Frozen Embryos--
Natalie
Evans and Lorraine Hadley have filed suit in the British
High Court in attempt to gain control over their frozen
embryos. The women lost the legal ability to implant
the embryos after the embryos' fathers withdrew
permission....
BBC - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/2249442.stm
British
Firm Cracks Stem Cell Production Problem--
A firm who wants to do research on Parkinson's using fetal
stem cells has found a way to reproduce the cells without
the genetic instability that occurs after repeated
reproduction....
Reuters - http://abcnews.go.com/wire/Living/reuters20020911_89.html
Insurance
Sways Outcome of IVF--
In states that require insurance companies to cover in-vitro
fertilization procedures, there are three times as many
procedured done and fewer multiple births as a result.
Experts speculate that the reason is that doctors are under
more pressure for a "successful" outcome when
people are paying for the procedure directly out of their
own pocket....
Reuters - http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20020828/hl_nm/insurance_invitro_dc_1
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Thursday, 12 September
UK Scientists Must Bank Embryonic Stem Cells--
Britain plans to force all scientists working on embryonic
stem cells to put their lines into the national bank being
established next year. The need to benefit the public
at large and maintain the public's confidence was offered as
justification for the decision...
Reuters - http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20020911/hl_nm/embryo_stemcells_dc_1
Cloning
Guru Bemoans Money Woes for Project--
One of the people who collaborated in the cloning of Dolly
is having serious trouble raising the money necessary to get
his Singapore-based embryonic stem cell company off the
ground....
Reuters - http://www.macon.com/mld/macon/news/nation/4058536.htm
UK
Inventor of DNA Fingerprinting Believes All Citizens Genetic
Informtion Should Be in a National Database--
Alec Jeffreys of
the University of Leicester and the inventor of DNA
fingerprinting believes that all British citizens should be
required to belong to a national registry of DNA so that
discrimination based on who is and is not included can be
avoided....
New Scientist - http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99992792
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Friday, 13 September
Bringing the Genetic Lab to You--
The ongoing work in genetic testing is bringing the ability
to analyze DNA closer and closer to everyday life. It
is expected that nearly instantaneous genetic tests will be
available within the next year, making the prospect of being
tested for a specific genetic condition as simple as
checking your blood pressure....
BBC - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/sci_tech/2002/leicester_2002/2255846.stm
Advocates
Argue Over Genetic Privacy--
The prospect of widespread genetic testing is prompting the
U.S. Congress to consider limits on genetic discrimination.
However, what kind of limits will be imposed is causing a
heated battle between those wanting to protect patients'
rights and those who think limited access to results is
essential....
Washington Post - http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A11562-2002Sep13.html
Genes
Key to Stem Cell 'Stemness' Identified--
Genetic profiling as determined that hundreds of genes are
likely involved in enabling stem cells to be able to change
into different parts of human tissue....
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
- http://www.hhmi.org/news/melton3.html
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