Bioethics News.
03/03/2015
Satellite data suggests forest loss is accelerating
Satellite images suggest tropical forests from the Amazon to the Philippines are disappearing at a far more rapid pace than previously thought, a University of Maryland team of forest researchers say.
03/03/2015
Irish parliament passes plain tobacco packaging law
Ireland on Tuesday became the second country in the world to pass legislation requiring cigarettes to be sold in plain packets, despite threats of legal action by tobacco companies opposed to the move.
03/02/2015
Study links common food additives to Crohn’s disease, colitis
Common additives in ice cream, margarine, packaged bread and many processed foods may promote the inflammatory bowel diseases ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease as well as a group of obesity-related conditions, scientists said on Wednesday.
03/02/2015
Parents often want changes in kids’ shots schedule
Many parents ask doctors to spread out toddlers’ vaccines instead of following the recommended immunization schedule, according to a new study.
02/26/2015
Doctor Seeking To Perform Head Transplant Is Out Of His Mind
Scientifically what Canavero wants to do cannot yet be done. It may never be doable.
02/26/2015
Couple Married 67 Years Dies Holding Hands
After spending 67 years together as devoted husband and wife, there was no question how Floyd and Violet Hartwig would end their lives — together.
02/25/2015
Clinically depressed three times more likely to commit violent crime
In a study based on some 47,000 people, the scientists emphasized, however, that the overwhelming majority of depressed people are neither violent nor criminal and should not be stigmatized.
02/25/2015
Study links common food additives to Crohn’s disease, colitis
Common additives in ice cream, margarine, packaged bread and many processed foods may promote the inflammatory bowel diseases ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease as well as a group of obesity-related conditions, scientists said on Wednesday.
02/24/2015
The challenge – and opportunity – of regulating new ideas in science and technology
02/24/2015
World’s diet worsening with globalization, major study finds: TRFN
The world’s diet has deteriorated substantially in the last two decades, a leading nutrition expert said on Monday, citing one of the largest studies available on international eating habits.
02/18/2015
U.S. approves first biotech apple that resists browning
U.S. regulators on Friday approved what would be the first commercialized biotech apple, rejecting efforts by the organic industry and other GMO critics to block the new fruit.
02/18/2015
Florida puts executions on hold as high court debates anesthetic
Florida’s highest court put executions on hold Tuesday while the U.S. Supreme Court decides whether use of a controversial general anesthetic constitutes “cruel and unusual” punishment of condemned killers.
02/17/2015
China’s ‘blood famine’ drives patients to the black market
China’s rising demand for healthcare is exposing a chronic shortage of an essential commodity: blood.
02/17/2015
Plain tobacco packs likely to deter smoking, studies show
Studies on the health impact of “plain” or standardized cigarette packs suggest they can deter non-smokers from taking up the habit and may cut the number of cigarettes smokers get through, scientists said on Tuesday.
02/12/2015
HPV vaccine linked to less-risky behavior
Contrary to concerns that getting vaccinated against human papilloma virus (HPV) will lead young people to have more or riskier sex, a new study in England finds less risky behavior among young women who got the HPV vaccine.
02/12/2015
Disabled elderly decline sharply after ICU
Seniors admitted to the hospital intensive care unit (ICU) were more likely to die or sharply decline soon after their release depending on how well they functioned beforehand, according to a new study.
02/11/2015
Teacher depression may affect child learning
The more depressive symptoms third grade teachers had in a new study, the less progress in math their struggling students made during the school year.
02/11/2015
Fatal smoking risks may be higher than thought
A new study suggests that smoking may be responsible for 60,000 to 120,000 more deaths in the U.S. each year than previously thought.
02/10/2015
Measles outbreak: Vaccination exemption would end under proposed California law
Two state senators said Wednesday they will introduce legislation to eliminate a controversial “personal belief exemption” that allows California parents to refuse to vaccinate their children.
02/09/2015
UK Set to Legalize Babies With DNA From 3 Parents
After a parliamentary vote earlier this week, the United Kingdom is set to become the first country to legalize making a baby with DNA from three parents.
02/09/2015
Among New York Subway’s Millions of Riders, a Study Finds Many Mystery Microbes
Have you ever been on the subway and seen something that you did not quite recognize, something mysteriously unidentifiable?
02/02/2015
The new scientific revolution: Reproducibility at last
Diederik Stapel, a professor of social psychology in the Netherlands, had been a rock-star scientist — regularly appearing on television and publishing in top journals. Among his striking discoveries was that people exposed to litter and abandoned objects are more likely to be bigoted.
01/30/2015
Public and Scientists’ Views on Science and Society
Scientific innovations are deeply embedded in national life — in the economy, in core policy choices about how people care for themselves and use the resources around them, and in the topmost reaches of Americans’ imaginations.
01/30/2015
Obama thinks “precision medicine” will make us healthier. Experts are skeptical.
The White House is committing $215 million to support efforts to develop personalized medicine, a priority the President touched on in his State of the Union earlier this month.
01/29/2015
Obama to Request Research Funding for Treatments Tailored to Patients’ DNA
President Obama will seek hundreds of millions of dollars for a new initiative to develop medical treatments tailored to genetic and other characteristics of individual patients, administration officials say.
01/29/2015
Genetic Testing and Tribal Identity
The genetic sequencing company 23andMe recently tapped into its vast bank of data to release a study on genetic origins, producing the biggest genetic profile of the United States ever conducted—big, but nowhere near complete.
01/28/2015
The coming revolution in much cheaper life-saving drugs
Randy Hillard’s life was saved by a drug that has cost $1 million over the last couple years to keep him alive. He’s now on an FDA panel that approved the first in a new class of life-saving drugs that are much cheaper.
01/28/2015
Growing human kidneys in rats sparks ethical debate
Researchers say they have developed a new technique that could get more kidneys to people who need transplants, but the method is sure to be controversial: The research shows that it is feasible to remove a kidney from an aborted human fetus, and implant the organ into a rat, where the kidney can grow to a larger size.
01/27/2015
Gov. Brown Makes History, End-of-Life Choices, Personal Health at our Fingertips
The new year is off to a fast start with a new state budget. Gov. Jerry Brown hinted at what would be the centerpieces of his historic fourth and final term when he was sworn in on Monday. He is focused on education, combating climate change and building the state’s controversial high-speed rail system, which broke ground in Fresno on Tuesday.