Shortly after I mentioned it as a possibility last week, scientists in China confirmed that they have been editing the genomes of several non-viable human embryos from IVF clinics using a new promising gene-editing technique called CRISPR. Technically speaking the results were a disappointment to researchers and proved that the technique is not ready for “medical use”. Of the 85 … Read More
Interview With a “Product of Surrogacy”
Recently Jennifer Lahl sat down with Jessica Kern, a young woman who was born through a commercial surrogacy arrangement and who describes herself as “a product of surrogacy.” The Other Side of Surrogacy: Jennifer Lahl interviews Jessica Kern from CBC Network on Vimeo. Whatever you think about third party reproduction, it is important to give people like Jessica a fair … Read More
In Auntie Heaven
Last week I drove from Florida to Missouri to visit my baby sister and her babies — and it has been well worth the 15 hour drive!! Just a little cute baby blogging to start your week off on a positive note — before I get into some the latest disturbing news on the genetic engineering front.
GMO Kids Coming Soon
Rebecca Taylor’s latest at the Register focuses on “three parent ivf”, which I’ve talked about many, many times here and an emerging new technique that allows scientists to “edit” or modify nuclear DNA within human gametes or embryos: There is a new genetic engineering technique that is revolutionizing biotechnology research. It is called CRISPR. CRISPR allows scientists to accurately alter … Read More
I Rise
The other day I took Grammerly’s Who is your poet BFF? quiz and got Maya Angelou. I didn’t immediately think much of the results. It was just a fun little distraction. But then I read the poem that was listed on the author’s page there, and wow. I was surprised by how much I was able to relate to it … Read More
Human Beings Are Not Science Experiments
I never cared much for science in school. At all. And, yet, last week I found myself sitting in front of my computer for a day and a half listening to public workshops at the Institute of Medicine on “Ethical and Social Policy Considerations of Novel Techniques for Prevention of Maternal Transmission of Mitochondrial DNA Diseases” — AKA “Three-Parent IVF” … Read More
India, Surrogacy and Black Market Babies
Here in the America, celebrities, wealthy columnists and popular entertainment paint a smiling, rosy picture of third party reproduction, meanwhile the fertility industry has a dirty little secret. In the latest Vice for HBO documentary, Outsourcing Embryos, correspondent Gianna Toboni traveled to India to report India’s booming surrogacy industry where impoverished women are recruited to be “gestational carriers” for middle-to-upper-class … Read More