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. They must be destroyed at 14 days. Amongst the other countries which have explicitly authorised the cloning of embryos for research are Britain, Japan and China. No companies are currently carrying out research cloning in Singapore at the moment.
MPs praised the new law for offering the prospect of cures for patients and economic benefits for Singapore. “Therapeutic cloning offers hope to victims of heart diseases, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, spinal cord injury and other debilitating diseases,” said MP Chong Weng Chiew. Another MP noted that the world market for Alzheimer’s drugs is US$1.3 billion and is expected to climb to $3 billion in 2008. (The MPs’ focus on Alzheimer’s is odd, as scientists agree that this disease is one of the least likely to be cured with stem cell therapies when they are developed.)
- Prescribe morning-after pills to young teenagers, say US pediatric group - November 30, 2012
- Bahrain sentences protest docs to prison - November 28, 2012
- Terry Pratchett assisted suicide documentary wins International Emmy - November 27, 2012
More Stories
China is desperate to raise its birthrate
China’s fertility rate has sunk to 1.18 children per woman and its population has begun to decline. Deaths outnumbered births...
American man says that he is both father and mother for his kids
This must be one of the most bizarre custody cases ever decided by an American court. The Superior Court of...
Are we already living in a transhumanist reality?
Last year an Oxford expert in transhumanism published “Future Superhuman: Our transhuman lives in a make-or-break century”. Elise Bohan, an...
95% of Irish women who know that their unborn child is Down syndrome have abortions
Abortion was only legalized in Ireland in 2018. One of the consequences is that the Rotunda Hospital in Dublin, a...
Massachusetts politicians propose prisoners as organ donors
Massachusetts is a state where conservatism goes to die, so it was astonishing to read a bill in its legislature...
Peru’s forced sterilization tragedy drags on in the courts
For at least 25 years, indigenous Peruvian women have been fighting for justice after they were forcibly sterilized by doctors...