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POPSNew way to make stem cells is safe Hochedlinger's team used a much more harmless virus, called an adenovirus, to carry into the cells the four transformative genes, called Oct4, Sox2, Klf4 and c-Myc. They used mouse skin cells and also liver cells from fetal mice and got both types to look and act like iPS cells As the cells divide, they dilute the virus until it disappears, he said. But the genetic changes remain. To test the cells they made chimeras --- a blend of two separate animals. They injected their newly made cells into mouse embryos and when the pups were born, they carried visible evidence that the cells had indeed transformed them And so far, these chimeric mice have not developed any tumors If it works, some day doctors may be able to make tailor-made transplants to treat diseases in people by removing a few cells, transforming them in the lab and transplanting the new tissue or organs back in
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POPSMcCain Equates Embryos and Fetuses in Stem Cell Statement "In scientific terms, embryos and fetuses are different and mutually exclusive entities. Equating them fits within a pro-life framework defining abortion at any stage as murder. "If you call the creation of an embryo for research 'fetal farming,' that clearly conflates embryos, at whatever stage, with fetuses," said Thomas Murray, director of the Hastings Center, a nonpartisan bioethics think tank. "It would seem to equate a five-day-old embryo with a fetus one day before delivery.""
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POPS“Junk DNA” May Have Triggered Key Evolutionary Changes in Human Thumb and Foot A rapidly evolving sequence from the human genome drives gene activity in the developing thumb, wrist and ankle of mouse embryos, suggesting the sequence may have contributed to key evolutionary changes in the human limbs that allowed us to walk upright and use tools. An indication of their biological importance, many of these non-coding sequences have remained similar, or “conserved,” even across distantly related vertebrate species such as chickens and humans. Recent functional studies suggest some of these “conserved non-coding sequences” control the genes that direct human development.
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POPSIs it so different? "After the female deposits her unfertilized eggs into the male, the outer shell of the eggs breaks down, and tissue from the male grows up around the eggs in the pouch. After fertilizing the eggs, the male closely controls the prenatal environment of the embryos in his pouch. The male keeps blood flowing around the embryos, controls the salt concentrations in the pouch, and provides oxygen and nutrition to the developing offspring through a placenta-like structure until he gives birth." " in some species of pipefish, the sex roles are reversed because males become pregnant and there is limited brood pouch space. So females compete for access to available males, and thus secondary sex traits (such as brightly colored ornamentation) evolve in female pipefish instead of males."
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POPSCloned Puppies: Sure, They're Cute, But at What Cost? Yet defenders of the industry say that it's wrong to apply analogies taken from other species' clones: Despite the difficulties, they insist, cloned dogs tend to be healthy, not least because scientists have spent the last decade figuring out how to do it. "Clone enough dogs, and occasionally you have offspring that aren't perfect," said Lou Hawthorne, CEO of both BioArts and the late Genetic Savings and Clone. "But it's comparable to what you have through conventional breeding."
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POPSStem cells could allow 'blood farms' One of the issues recently has been the shelf life of blood, where the rotation principle-first in first out can leave blood 'stale' and unsafe. There is also the fact that the contributions cannot meet the demand, and the increase in surgery that requires large volumes of blood. Transplant, and heart surgery being prime examples. They have been searching for a means of producing blood artificially, but the prospect of using stem cells, makes it more likely to be a reality. One of the most important aspects is that the red cells have no nucleus, so no nucleic DNA. A fact that can relieve many ethical, and practical problems.
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POPSThe Future of Babies Since embryos will be grown in labs, mutations to embryos could be corrected and improvements could be engineered. Yet there will be no "designer babies " because no single gene is that predictive of a "perfect" child.
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POPSStem cells are needed The conflict centers on an effort to create stem cells from embryos that are exact clones of adults. The hope is to one day use the cells to generate transplant tissues or even whole body parts to treat incurable diseases. Last month, the California agency doled out $23 million in research grants but turned down all applications seeking funding for the technique, known as therapeutic cloning." I find it very disturbing; why does the US try to hold off the future that may take humanity one step forward.
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POPSSnakes reveal deadly fang secrets Rather than develop independently, as some had argues, evidence suggests that the jaw and venom developed, and then fang position evolved as the fangs began to move around on the jaw, the different placements being a likely response to the types of prey or predators that shared the snakes' environments.
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POPSNASA Needs to Take Space Sex Seriously The fact remains however, that we are naive of the effects of sex in space, let alone if it is even a pleasurable experience. The mechanics of "human docking procedures" (as described by tests carried out by the Russian space agency) are a lot more complicated when in zero gravity. There are also huge ethical questions hanging over possible pregnancies in space. Zero-G tests on rat embryos produced decreased skeletal and brain development, the effects on a human embryo will remain a mystery. The fact remains that NASA continues to cut back biological research in favor of future Moon missions, so much about human sexuality in space will remain a mystery.
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POPSBaby to be born free of breast cancer after embryo screening This case of genetic intervention for the elimination of genetic diseases, is a ground breaking first that may change our world and our ethical outlook. Many more will follow. I was quite surprised to read the following: "Some critics say it is wrong to destroy embryos because there is only a chance women with the gene may develop breast cancer in adulthood. They argue that, increasingly, breast cancer can also be successfully treated. " The said "embryos" are 3 days old lumps of undifferentiated cells.
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POPSScientists seek to create 'three-parent' babies "We respect the fact that there are people who have moral objections to any type of research involving human embryos. However, it could be argued that there is a moral obligation to reduce suffering in children at risk of inheriting mitochondrial disease," says Herbert.
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POPSBritish lawmakers back animal-human embryos for research "I believe that we owe it to ourselves and future generations to introduce these measures and in particular to give our unequivocal backing, within the right framework of rules and standards, to stem cell research," Brown wrote in the Observer.
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POPSGenetically modified human embryo stirs criticism It is definitely unacceptable to try it when it is unsafe. It is definitely worth trying when it will be safe. It will be safe eventually, our job meanwhile is to create an adequate ethical framework that will allow the harnessing of this future technology to the benefit of all humans and other beings.
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