Americans wrestle with definition of abortion
Abortion is just as inflammable and divisive an issue as ever in the United States, but the rhetoric is changing. The best illustration of the...
Anthropologists cancel panel discussion on sex binary over ‘transphobia’
The American Anthropology Association, together with its Canadian counterpart, has cancelled a presentation at its November conference in Toronto, because the speakers were affirming the...
Japanese scientists foresee artificial eggs and sperm in next decade
IVG, in vitro gametogenesis, is one of the most radical offshoots of IVF. Scientists are rushing to be the first to create “artificial” eggs and...
Spanish pets must be offered alternatives to euthanasia
In a significant development for animal welfare in Spain, legislation aimed at curbing the mistreatment and abandonment of animals officially took effect last month, as...
Greenland women demand compensation for forced contraception
Greenland women who lost their ability to bear children because Danish doctors secretly inserted IUDs in the 1960s and 1970s are suing for immediate compensation....
A painful debate: shrinking the carbon footprint of anaesthetics
If there is any profession which seems remote from the Sturm und Drang of climate change, it must be anaesthetists. After all their job is...
Some patients recall death experiences after heart attacks
In an article in the journal Resuscitation, some survivors of cardiac arrest have described lucid death experiences that occurred while they appeared to be unconscious....
Queensland widower dies after taking assisted suicide drugs ordered by his wife
“Move along, please. Nothing to see here.” This was more or less the reaction of supporters of “voluntary assisted dying” after the first significant report...
Canadian study hints at crushing institutional conscience objections to ‘assisted dying’
Supporters of “voluntary assisted dying” fought hard to achieve legalisation in various jurisdictions around the world. After legalisation, however, battles still remain to be fought....
Hope, hype and xenotransplantation
On January 7, 2022 David Bennett, a 57-year-old with terminal heart disease, made history as the first person to receive a genetically modified pig’s heart....
Could newborns solve the kidney shortage crisis?
Kidneys from newborn babies could be a “game-changing” solution to organ shortage crisis, according to an American study. According to a paper presented at the...
Chinese scientists grow humanized kidneys in pigs
Chinese scientists have successfully created chimeric embryos containing a combination of human and pig cells. When transferred into surrogate pig mothers, the developing humanized kidneys...