IN BRIEF: stem cells; abortion pill
STEM CELL LINES: A mere 150 stem cell lines would provide treatments for 40% of the UK population, claim British geneticists. Based on a study of how kidney donors match transplant recipients, they found that a relatively small number of lines would be compatible — when stem cell therapy becomes a viable treatment. According to a report in news@nature.com, the best source would be discarded IVF embryos because cloned embryos still develop abnormally.
Michael Cook edits BioEdge, a bioethics newsletter, and MercatorNet, an on-line magazine whose focus is human dignity. He writes from Sydney, Australia.
Latest posts by Michael Cook (see all)
- How long can you put off seeing the doctor because of lockdowns? - December 3, 2021
- House of Lords debates assisted suicide—again - October 28, 2021
- Spanish government tries to restrict conscientious objection - October 28, 2021
More Stories
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....
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...
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”...
Australian first: nurse donates organs after euthanasia
A Victorian woman has become the first Australian to combine death by euthanasia with organ donation. Ballarat nurse Marlene Bevern,...
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...
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...