Melbourne woman to die after tubes pulled
In the final act of a lurid drama featuring a middle-aged businessman, a blonde mistress, a murdered wife and a bioethical dilemma, the life of...
Republican hopefuls divide over embryos
Two leading Republican politicians with presidential aspirations committed themselves to opposite sides in the bitter debate over the moral status of embryos this month. Massachusetts...
Bone marrow stem cells could replenish ovaries
Blood and bone marrow stem cells may contain stem cells which can develop into eggs, says an article in the latest issue of the journal...
Wilmut to seek egg donors for his research
The creator of Dolly, the first cloned sheep, Professor Ian Wilmut, plans to ask British women to donate eggs for his research into motor neurone...
Lancet denounces consumerism in medicine
Are health professionals supermarkets and their patients customers in a commercial transaction? If so, what scope is there for refusing their customers' demands? This week's...
IN BRIEF: older fathers; British euthanasia
Older fathers are up to five times more likely to have children with birth defects, according to a study in the US and Denmark. A...
Kids could have three parents with new Australian proposal
Some children could legally have three or more parents if the Law Reform Commission in the Australian state of Victoria has its way. It has...
Couples using IVF as a safety net
Couples are delaying having children and using IVF as a safety net, according to Australian government-sponsored research into fertility decision making. The results of a...
Don’t misuse Nazi analogy, says bioethicist
It demeans the suffering of the Holocaust Dragging images of Nazi atrocities in science and medicine into contemporary bioethical issues blights the debate and demeans...
Referendum on Massachusetts stem cell law scuppered
A proposed referendum to repeal a new law authorising embryonic stem cell research in the US state of Massachusetts has been dismissed by the state's...
Stem cell developments
Canadian researchers have found that skin cells obtained from newly circumcised foreskins can differentiate into muscle cells, neurons and glia, including those which support the...
Stem cell alternatives criticised by leading scientists
Three leading scientists have criticised proposals by opponents of embryonic stem cell research to fund unconventional methods of obtaining ESCs and bypass the moral issue...