Therapeutic cloning has taken another body blow with a report in a leading journal that cloned embryos appear to be genetically normal, even though most cloned embryos develop abnormally. The implication is that scientists are still far from understanding the cloning process.

The findings also suggest that therapies from therapeutic cloning are not around the corner. "Even if cloned embryos are born, many are not normal and die prematurely," Wolf Reik, of the UK's Babraham Institute, told The Scientist magazine. "These late effects are not caused by early deficits in gene expression." At first embryonic stem cells may look normal, but problems may emerge later on. And Atsuo Ogura, of Japan's Riken Bioresource Center, remarked that this study clearly indicates that technical improvements cannot overcome the post-implantation problems of clones".

Despite this pessimism, the leading author of the article, Jerry Yang, of the University of Connecticut, still asserts that the findings are "good news for therapeutic cloning and bad news… click here to read whole article and make comments

 The Dutch government is to set up a commission to oversee the euthanasia of seriously ill newborns. The commission will be able to approve late abortions or killing newborns. Euthanasia will be possible if a child has no chance of survival and is suffering unbearably, if another doctor is consulted and if the parents agree. The Justice Minister and the Junior Health Minister say that the commission, which will begin work in mid-2006, will improve the transparency of infant euthanasia.

"We wanted to respond to the needs of doctors to create clarity in how to deal with ending the life of seriously suffering newborns as well as the legal consequences of late abortions," the ministers wrote in a letter to the Dutch parliament.

"The conventions, as well as the opinion of the commission, offer doctors the knowledge that cases will not just be seen from a legal perspective but also from a medical and ethical perspective... the… click here to read whole article and make comments

With South Korean researchers under the hammer for allegedly lax informed consent procedures, it is interesting to note a strain of thought in the US which proposes giving the whole notion a radical shake-up.

One of the papers most cited by academics in the social sciences in November, according the ISI Essential Science Indicators, argues that we have a duty to participate in clinical research. Rosamund Rhodes, of Mount Sinai School of Medicine, in New York, says that the current standards inhibit research and therein oppose the advancement of medicine and the interests of patients".

Dr Rhodes's argument is that medical research is so beneficial to society that we all have a moral duty to do our "fair share". Consequently, she questions whether informed consent should be "the primary focus of research oversight". "Clinicians should invite or even urge patients to participate in research," she says, "and that patients who refuse to participate have to justify their refusal at least… click here to read whole article and make comments

New Zealand: Australian euthanasia activist Dr Philip Nitschke plans to move to New Zealand in January to carry on his campaign from Auckland. However, the Medical Council of New Zealand appears to be trying to block him by insisting that he must first register as a doctor there. Dr Nitschke's attempts to register in the past have failed. click here to read whole article and make comments

 Researchers who want to clone human embryos and create stem cells are facing the biggest public relations disaster in the history of their fledgling science. Their most acclaimed colleague Hwang Woo-suk, of Seoul National University, has admitted that he lied about his compliance with ethical protocols.

I am very sorry that I have to tell the public words that are too shameful and horrible," he told . "The world gasped in awe when I first showed the results of my research. I felt a national pride and tasted the confidence that we Koreans could achieve things too," he said. "I was blinded by work and my drive for achievement." Hwang has now resigned from all public posts although he will continue with his research with the warm support of his government.

Hwang's misdemeanour was actually fairly minor. Despite explicit assertions that the eggs for his research had been donated by generous Korean women, he actually purchased most… click here to read whole article and make comments

 Newspaper accounts of the Hwang debacle brought to light something that BioEdge missed earlier in the year: a South Korea postage stamp honouring his achievement. This was, according to Korea Post, the world-first of creating human embryonic stem cells in February 2004, which it describes as "another step forward in liberating humankind from incurable diseases that have inflicted untold human suffering for almost eternity". The only ethical controversy highlighted by Korea Post is the danger that cloning embryos might turn into cloning babies.

The stamp has two panels. On the left a cell is being manipulated and on the right a paralysed man is bounding out of his wheelchair, kicking up his heels and embracing his girlfriend. With a tantalising vision like this on their stamps, it is no wonder that Hwang is so warmly supported by ordinary Koreans.

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Governments need to set ethical standards now for dealing with a possible influenza epidemic, says a Canadian bioethics thinktank. Based on the experience of the 2003 SARS crisis, the University of Toronto Joint Centre for Bioethics has drawn up a 15-point ethical guide.

The Canadian battle with SARS proved that there were substantial issues. Dozens of health care workers were infected and some even died, but others refused to treat SARS patients. Apart from the duty to provide care, other matters which need to be examined include quarantine measures which strike a balance between public health and individual liberty; allocation of scarce medicines; and framing travel advisories so that they are transparent and equitable. click here to read whole article and make comments

A messy surrogacy lawsuit is looming in Massachusetts which pits a best-selling novelist, her husband and her surrogate mother against the surrogate's estranged husband. Jacquelyn Mitchard, author of "The Deep End of the Ocean" (also a film), engaged Kentucky woman Arletta Bendschneider to carry a child conceived with sperm of Mitchard's husband and a donor egg. Arletta saw surrogacy as her "life's calling" and was happy to hand over the baby, which was born in Massachusetts on November 1.

However, her husband, Jack Bendschneider, wasn't. He had walked out on her during the pregnancy, taking their two children, aged 7 and 2, and wants a divorce. He says that she neglected her own offspring during the pregnancy. Now he refuses to sign papers giving up his legal rights to the child. Mr Bendschneider says that he is not trying to thwart the surrogacy deal, but he wants nothing to do with his wife's surrogacy. "I don't understand why I have… click here to read whole article and make comments

Adoption law should be liberalised to allow single people and gay couples to engage surrogate mothers, says a major report in the Australian state of Victoria. This is part of a major overhaul of laws on reproductive technology proposed by the Victorian Law Reform Commission. If passed by the state legislature, it will probably influence other states as well.

The Law Reform Commission frowns on payment for surrogacy arrangements and says that only payment for medical expenses should be allowed -- not compensation for loss of earnings. "It would be unacceptable for the surrogate to obtain any material advantage as a result of carrying and giving birth to the child.," it argues.

It has also adopted a "cautious" position on parentage. "The law should not compel the surrogate to hand over the baby to the commissioning couple if she decides that she cannot bring herself to do so," it says. The commissioning couple need to be "fit and proper" people… click here to read whole article and make comments

After IVF treatment one woman in seven is hospitalised with serious complications, Finnish researchers have found. This is almost twice the number for natural pregnancies, says Dr Reija Klemetti, of the National Research and Development Centre for Welfare and Health in Helsinki. "Though there was a low risk of complications after each IVF treatment cycle, repeated attempts resulted in serious complications for many women," she says.

The research was based on a survey of 20,000 women. The complications include miscarriages, bleeding, ectopic pregnancies and ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome. The study had been carried out because the incidence of complications due to IVF was "poorly understood", said Dr Klemetti. It was originally reported in the journal Human Reproduction. click here to read whole article and make comments