CAN UNCONSCIOUS PATIENTS WAKE UP?
In the wake of the discovery (reported in ) that a brain-damaged woman in the UK in a persistent vegetative state was responding to stimuli,...
BRITONS ADDICTED TO COSMETIC SURGERY
Nearly 20% of Americans would like to have cosmetic surgery, according to a survey released by the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery. Although only about...
AUSTRALIAN EUTHANASIA DEBATE FLARES UP AGAIN
A powerful voice in the Australian government has called for the legalisation of voluntary euthanasia. Although Federal Parliament quashed a euthanasia law in the Northern...
SCIENCE DENOUNCES ANIMAL RIGHTS TERRORISM
The editor of the prestigious journal Science has denounced terrorist" tactics used by some animal rights organisations to intimidate scientists. Editor Donald Kennedy highlighted the...
TEXAS DEBATES FUTILE CARE LAW
Legislators are having second thoughts about a controversial futile- care law in Texas. This stipulates that if a hospital review committee feels that further treatment...
DESIGN BRIEF FOR DESIGNER BABIES
The well-educated are significantly more open to the idea of "designing" babies than the poorly educated, according to a new study by psychologists at the...
“SLIPPERY SLOPE” MAY BE REAL IN EMBYRO SELECTIONS
Slate's biotechnology columnist William Saletan has suggested that there really is a "slippery slope" in bioethics -- at least for designer babies. He points out...
IN BRIEF: Dignitas; Vatican
Dignitas: Four Britons have ended their lives in Switzerland, with the help of the Zurich's Dignitas clinic, in the past six weeks. So far, 54...
VEGETATIVE PATIENTS MAY HAVE AWARENESS
Severely brain-damaged and apparently unresponsive patients may be conscious, British researchers have discovered. In a startling study published in the journal Science, brain imaging techniques...
STEM CELL COMPANY HAMMERED FOR MISRESPRESENTATION
A company accused of misleading the media and the public with claims of creating "ethical" embryonic stem cells was hammered by politicians, the media and...
THE LAST FRONTIER IN PRISON REFORM?
A campaigner for prisoners' welfare in the UK has called for voluntary euthanasia for prisoners. Mark Leech, a former prisoner and the editor of the...
ARE WOMB TRANSPLANTS AROUND THE CORNER?
A British doctor has claimed that his team is only two years away from being able to transplant a womb so that women who lack...