BIOETHICS NEWS | MARCH 2017 | Is the human embryo a living being of our species?

nº 53

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March 2017

SPECIAL REPORTS

New advances and challenges in the production of human-animal chimeras Producing organs formed almost entirely of human cells in experimental animals. Nonetheless, … Read more.

Is the human embryo a living being of our species? Few doubts that determining whether the preimplantation human embryo is a living being of our species is one of, if not the most, fundamental issues in modern bioethics.  There are numerous scientific data… Read more.

Gender identity disorders. Current scientific evidence Introduction Management of so-called "gender incongruence, cross-gender behaviour, non-normative gender behaviour, gender dysphoria or transgender or transsexual behaviours", hereinafter encompassed within the term "Desire for Sex Change" (DSC) is a complex task ... Preserving the health and dignity… Read more.

NEWS

Patient's own menstrual blood stem cells used to treat Asherman's syndrome Infertility treatment."The best option for endometrial regeneration in patients with Asherman's syndrome." Asherman's syndrome is an acquired uterine abnormality characterised by the presence of intrauterine adhesions, and which clinically causes infertility, recurrent miscarriages and menstrual changes. Its prevalence ranges between 2% and 22% of infertile women. Several surgical and medical treatments have been proposed, but outcomes have been unsatisfactory. Now, … Read more.

Assisted reproduction clinics advertising brochures are very far from the objective medical truth Clear example of misleading advertising. According to many advertising brochures from assisted reproduction clinics, women who attend them have 100% chance of achieving a pregnancy. However, this possibility is very far ... An article has just been published in the British Medical Journal, evaluating the likelihood of… Read more.

Rights of aborted foetal remains. Recognition by different countries Fetal remains  can not be treated as clinical. waste Texas will bury or cremate aborted children. From 19 December 2016, abortion clinics  will have to bury or cremate them, whichever the parents decide. The local reform is part of a new positive global trend to recognise the rights… Read more.

First cell gene therapy to treat "Bubble boy" disease has been legalised in Europe Last July, an article was published in medical journal Blood, which described the success of a cell gene therapy modality to treat the immunodeficiency caused by adenosine deaminase deficiency - "Bubble boy" disease. This is a grave disease, the immune defences of… Read more.

Euthanasia in Belgium. The number of "patients" is on the rise The Belgian Commission for Euthanasia Control and Evaluation reported on 23 January this year that 2,025 citizens had died by euthanasia in 2016 — an average of 5.5 every day. This is a record number since its legalisation… Read more.

United States healthcare providers refuse to participate in executions Capital punishment in the United States is socially highly controversial, especially in two areas: participation of healthcare providers in the execution, and obtaining the drugs used in it… Read more.

NEWS IN BRIEF

Human "Enhancement" extends its field to the genital area Enhancement is defined as the improvement of bodily functions, appearance or behaviour using genetic or biomedical techniques. The point to which "enhancement" can be implemented raises a major bioethical debate that included the ethical licitness of vaginal designer surgery for aesthetic reasons… Read more.

Northern Ireland against expansion of the abortion law Northern Ireland has obtained an amazing 300,000 signatures requesting that the country's current prolife legislation be maintained. Parliament member Jim Wells has declared that never before have so many people taken a… Read more.

IVF mix up. 26 Dutch women inseminated with the wrong sperm Utrecht University Hospital in the Netherlands has opened a medical investigation after revealing that at least 26 women may have been inseminated with the wrong sperm during their in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment. In a statement, the medical centre recognised… Read more.

Retinal tissue produced from iPS cells in animals Another possible applications of iPS cells is in the treatment of retinal diseases. Now, a group of researchers from the Riken Institute in Kobe (Japan) has presented some interesting animal experiments  in which they were able to produce retinal tissue… Read more.

Changes occur in the maternal brain that enhance communication with the unborn A dicovery of great significance shows that changes occur in the brain of pregnant women as a result of the new hormone levels and biological adaptation to them. According to an article published in Nature Neuroscience… Read more.

Cerebral organoids produced from embryonic stem cells A group of researchers in La Jolla, California, have produced three-dimensional  cerebral organoids from human embryonic stem cells, comparing the functionality of the tissue produced with samples of brain tissue from human foetuses with the same degree of development. They also showed… Read more.