• A survey recently conducted by the Canada’s Society of Palliative Care Physicians (CSPCP) reveals that “Most palliative physicians want no role in assisted death.” BioEdge has more. Good! Now that assisted suicide has been forced upon them by the CA Supreme Court, we need doctors like this to stand up and take back medicine! • Designer Babies: Human cloning … Read More
BioBytes: No Limit Parenthood
• On February 3 the UK House of Commons voted to make Britain the first country in the world to offer controversial ‘three-parent’ fertility treatments. This week the House of Lords sealed the deal. On February 24, by a vote of 280 to 48 the House of Lords gave final approval for scientists in the UK to start creating three-parent … Read More
The Scientific Case Against Three-Parent Embryos
An informative interview with Prof Stuart Newman, Professor of Cell Biology and Anatomy at New York Medical College, on the ethical concerns regarding “three-parent IVF” Prof. Newman isn’t the only scientist to caution against three-parent IVF. Prior to this month’s vote in the House of Commons, Dr Paul Knoepfler, a stem cell researcher and associate professor at the University of … Read More
Audio: Three-Parent IVF and Euthanasia Updates
I was on The Mike Allen Show early this morning to talk about the troubling cultural embrace of 3-parent IVF and euthanasia http://www.reflectionsofaparalytic.com/audio/Mike-Allen-show-02-18-2015.m4a (Can’t see the player? Direct link to the episode here.) I didn’t get a chance to mention it on the show, but I encourage you all to sign this petition to stop UK proposals for germline genetic … Read More
Bioethics 2014: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
The Center for Bioethics and Culture Network has compiled their list for the “Winners and Losers” in bioethics for 2014. Winners include: Kathleen Sloan, board member for the National Organization for Women and a regular consultant for the CBC. Human biotechnology creates strange bedfellows. Although Sloan is a committed abortion rights advocate, she has also lent her voice to campaigns … Read More
Biotalking with Dr. David Prentice
At the National Right to Life Convention this summer I caught up with Dr. David Prentice, Senior Fellow for Life Sciences at Family Research Council, and chatted with him a bit about the current status of the great “stem cell debate”, how scientists are tinkering with human life these days and what, if any, positive signs he sees for trying … Read More
Divergent, Genetic Engineering and Genetic Discrimination
Rebecca Taylor reviews the latest teen dystopian future trilogy to hit the big screen: I…want to thank Veronica Roth for tackling tough issues in biotechnology in a way young people love. I hope this trilogy gives them pause in a world that thinks science can solve any problem. I hope they see that being human is not a problem that … Read More
BioBytes
• Researchers have discovered that instead of simply being an extra copy of each of the genes on chromosome 21, trisomy 21 has an effect on the expression of genes on other chromosomes. Rebecca Taylor observes how this new discovery has implications for the future of human genetic engineering. • Judie Brown explains why personhood described as being “from the … Read More
More GMO Inconsistency
My BioTalk partner-in-crime, Rebecca Taylor, has a new article at the National Catholic Register on the disconnect that many in our society seem to have when it comes to GMOs: So we live in a society where people are wary of eating meat or drinking milk from a cloned cow but support cloning human embryos (using the very same technique) … Read More
Audio: “Three-Parent Embryos” and Genetic Engineering
Last week I was on the radio in Lexington, KY talking to Mike Allen about “three-parent embryos” and genetic engineering. Click the play button below to listen. I come on about 15 minutes into the program — in the second segment. http://www.reflectionsofaparalytic.com/audio/Mike-Allen-2014-02-27.mp3 This is serious stuff, y’all! We are on a threshold. Will we move forward in genetically-engineering our children? … Read More