UPGRADING TO HUMAN 2.0
The powers of mutants in the recent film X-Men 3: The Last Stand may be fanciful, but not ridiculous, at least to a growing number...
WILMUT BACKS CLONED EMBRYOS
The creator of the first cloned mammal, Dolly the sheep, says that cloning embryonic human beings is a moral imperative, even though he remains "implacably...
CHINA CRACKS DOWN ON SEX SELECTION
Since 2004 North China's Hebei Province has closed 201 clinics involved in gender selection, an official has said. The province has discovered and dealt with...
OXFORD LAB STILL PLAGUED BY PROTEST
The endless battle between Oxford University and animal rights groups continues. In the latest instalment, the group Speak says that it has discovered where the...
CHINESE HOSPITAL SPRUIKS SPINAL CURES
Although stem cell cures for spinal cord injury and motor neurone disease still are still a distant dream in the US and Europe, a doctor...
A GOOD WAY TO GO: MOUSE EUTHANASIA
While politicians fret about euthanasing humans, bench scientists in the US and UK are having bunfights over euthanasing mice. According to Nature, tens, perhaps hundreds,...
SPERM DONOR CRISIS IN SCOTLAND
All of Scotland's five fertility clinics are struggling and one has closed for lack of sperm donors. A recent law has given people in the...
SWISS TO KEEP ASSISTED SUICIDE
The Swiss government has declared that it has no intention of reining in "suicide tourism". Pressure had been mounting for tighter controls on assisted suicide...
IN BRIEF: stem cells, Philip Nitschke, Ronald Cranford
STEM CELL CONFERENCE: Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle will be the keynote speaker at the second annual National Stem Cell Policy and Advocacy Summit at Stanford...