BIOETHICS NEWS Nº 31 - MAY 2015

China Harvesting Organs from Prisoners/Top Medical Advances 2014: Cell Therapy, nº 31

nº31 

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March 2015 [actualized]

Cell therapy voted among the most notable medical advances of 2014 Nature Medicine consider the most notable advances in medicine in 2014. Four studies evaluating the therapeutic potential of stem cells…

Parthenogenesis - A new possibility for regenerative medicine and a new bioethical dilemma It have allowed pluripotent stem cells to be obtained from oocytes (eggs) which have been stimulated to divide without having been fertilised by sperm. Can individuals be obtained from parthenogenesis? A recent sentence from the European Court of Justice supports  … Leer más.

Harvesting organs from executed prisioners in China is banned Harvesting organs from executed prisioners is legalised in 1984 in China, "provided consent was obtained from the convicts themselves and their family". Harvesting organs This practice has been condemned, both by human rights organisations, and by medical and scientific authorities…

Birth control pills risk increase in diabetes pregnacy Recent research has suggested that birth control pills risk of developing gestational diabetes. Although previous studies have been able to establish an association between the use of hormonal contraceptives and increased blood glucose, as well as changes in lipids, there have been no reliable data to date on whether it could also increase the risk of gestational diabetes. Now, an…

Child euthanasia: opinions among the Austrian population In 2005, the Groningen Protocol was published, a guide for promoting child euthanasia in newborns. An article has now been published (BMC Medical Ethics 2014; 15:74) evaluating the opinion of the Austrian population on this issue. Of those surveyed, 63.6% were against…

Human life value - Can religious beliefs influence medical practice? Human life value and religious beliefs in medical practice and the ethic public debate. Religion continues to be of major social importance, so the question needs to be asked: how can religious beliefs influence medical practice? A study published in the Journal of Medical Ethics (41; 117-120,2015) analysed the influence of religion on medical practice. A central point of this…

Deaths and displacement due to war Deaths and displacement due to the war in african countries. The war in Syria has already caused more than 200,000 deaths. More than 10,000 people have died in internal conflicts in Southern Sudan, and in the Central African Republic, around 500,000 have been displaced from their homes during the two years of armed conflict in the country (The Lancet 384;…

Clinical trials using embryonic stem cells authorised in the United States Clinical trials using embryonic stem cells which, as we know, requires the destruction of human embryos, is approved The North American FDA has given its approval to the Californian company Asterias Biotherapeutics to begin a clinical trial at the beginning of 2015. The aim of the clinical trials using embryonic stem cells is to validate the safety and efficacy of the use…

Cord blood use in regenerative medicine Everyone is aware of the importance of umbilical cord blood cells  , and especially the importance that they could have in the future in regenerative and reparatory medicine. Cells from cord blood use in regenerative medicine is very useful but, one problem at present it that often only small numbers of these cells are collected. An article has now been published (Science…

Gene therapy techniques - a new clinical application Gene therapy techniques that do not present any ethical difficulties New steps in gene therapy  complemented with cell therapy . Pulmonary alveolar proteinosis is a rare lung disease in which the lung becomes filled with macrophages treatment has objective secondary difficulties. Now, Suzuki et al. (Nature 514; 450-454, 2014) propose to transfer modified macrophages in which the genetic defect of the disease…

Transgender - Reports on transsexuality Transgender report. As a proposal to the freedom of its readers, and with the highest respect towards all, the website of the Bishop of Alcalá de Henares has prepared a Section in which it offers a first approximation to the issue relating to the desire to change sex in adults, young people and children, in the light of the Magisterium…

Damaged hearts could self-repair Heart attacks that lead to blockage of the coronary arteries cause major damaged hearts cells.  This damage needs to be repaired by initiating a response in the heart which stimulates the removal of dead cells and cell remains, activation of cellular immunity and the formation of new blood vessels. Al this promotes the arrival of blood the damaged area of…

Preimplantation genetic diagnosis is poorly regulated in the United States There are preimplantation genetic diagnosis regulations in most Western countries but the use of this diagnosis is poorly regulated in the United States (Hasting Center Report. January-February 2015).