Leading bioethicist supports abolition of dead-donor rule
Franklin Miller, of National Institutes of Health To underscore the coming controversy about the dead donor rule for organ transplant, a bioethicist at the National...
Assumptions of stem cell biology questioned
Is "stemness" like phlogiston?Simple-minded laymen may believe that scientists are on the verge of being able to manipulate stem cells. But some thoughtful biologists are...
Obama steps on third rail
Health care debate turns nasty The third rail of American politics is healthcare reform. And President Obama is looking distinctly singed after stepping on it....
Australian surrogacy laws lead to complications
Weird new relationships created Surrogacy is a minefield for black-letter lawyers, not just for emotional parents, as a recent case in Australia shows. Australia has...
Doctors could pressure women who have pre-natal diagnosis
German study Recent breakthoughs in pre-natal diagnosis raise serious ethical questions, notes an article in the journal Nature Reviews Genetics by German doctors. It now...
Star shortstop’s career depends on DNA test
Dominican 16-year-old awaits resultsSixteen-year-old shortstop Miguel Sano is the hottest prospect that US baseball scouts have seen in a long, long time. But nearly six...
Grandparents financing British IVF
Relieving the distress of their older children. In vitro fertilisation clinics should be doing a freeze during the recession, but in Britain their income is...
UK nurses go neutral on assisted suicide
Only tiny fraction support it. The peak body for nurses in the UK, the Royal College of Nursing, has become the only major medical institution...
Between life and death
Many doctors misdiagnose the so-called vegetative state. Few end-of-life decisions can be more heart-wrenching for relatives than assenting to a doctor’s recommendation that life support...
UK may allow market in sperm donation
Proposal by new HFEA chairThe UK’s fertility watchdog is thinking of reversing its long-standing ban on allowing eggs and sperm to be sold. The new...
Hey, buddy! Wanna buy a kidney?
Even in the US, a black market could be flourishingBlack markets in organs for transplant surgery are not a monopoly of developing countries like Pakistan...
Controversy over Obama appointments
NIH director and Surgeon-General both have religious backgrounds Two more of President Obama’s appointment have created a stir amongst bioethicists. His choice for head of...