Aussies flying to US for surrogate babies
Infertile couples, single women and gay couples from Australia are paying as much as $170,000 for babies born of American surrogate mothers. According to the...
Singapore legalises therapeutic cloning
Singapore has joined the small group of nations which have legalised therapeutic cloning. The new law allows scientists to create human embryos for stem-cell research....
Therapeutic cloning” a misnomer, says stem cell society
The term "therapeutic cloning" is a misnomer, says the International Society for Stem Cell Research, because it is not therapeutic and it is not cloning....
IN BRIEF: Carl Wood; designer baby; Down syndrome; baldness
Australia's IVF pioneer, Professor Carl Wood, has announced that he has Alzheimer's disease. Under his direction, Monash University produced Australia's first IVF baby in 1980....
We’re speciesist and proud, says The Lancet
Human health must always trump animal rights, The Lancet argues in its lead editorial this week. "The use of animals in medical research and safety...
US bioethics council battered at both ends
After weathering three years of criticism for being a conservative, biased, unscientific influence on George W. Bush, the US President's Council on Bioethics is now...
More mysteries in embryology than once thought
As an example of how much scientists still have to learn about developmental biology, US researchers are investigating a largely unknown third group of cells...
Nearly half of Chinese births by C-section
China's one-child policy is contributing to "soaring numbers" of women who choose to have their single child by Caesarean section, the Wall Street Journal has...
Embryo research “barbaric”, says Irish biotechnologist
However sceptical scientists may be about the ethics of using embryonic stem cells (ESCs) or about their therapeutic potential, few oppose the right of other...
Sex selection increasing in Sydney
Couples are paying up to A$13,000 to select the sex of their child at IVF clinics in Sydney, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. The...
Maverick scientist creates cow-human hybrids
Despite venomous quarrels, bitter hostility and mutual incomprehension amongst the doctors, lawyers, scientists and philosophers who wrangle about bioethics, there is one thing on which...
The fate of surplus embryos: thawed out, burnt up and prayed over
With no regulation to determine what US IVF clinics should do with their surplus embryos, clinics have come up with an astonishing array of solutions,...