Bioethics News.
01/23/2015
Surprise! With $60 Million Genentech Deal, 23andMe Has A Business Plan
A deal being announced today with Genentech points the way for 23andMe, the personal genetics company backed by Facebook billionaire Yuri Milner and Google Ventures to become a sustainable business – even if the company’s discussions with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration stretch on for years.
01/23/2015
Most parents want their babies’ genome sequenced, study finds
By sequencing the billions of chemical letters in a cell’s DNA, which make up the human genome, scientists may be able to better estimate the risk of a person developing cancer, heart, biochemical and metabolic diseases.
01/21/2015
Will our smart gadgets become trusted or oppressive companions?
Like legions of hyperactive butlers, many of the brainy gadgets being developed for the Internet of Things will anticipate our needs and make choices for us — without being told what to do — marking a momentous transformation in our relationship with machines.
01/20/2015
Dad Arrested for Giving Cannabis Oil to Daughter With Cancer
The father of a 2-year-old with late-stage cancer is facing jail time for using cannabis oil in an attempt to ease his daughter’s suffering.
01/20/2015
Fight threatens thousands of Californians’ health coverage
A contract dispute between health insurance provider Blue Shield of California and the Sutter Health network of doctors and hospitals is threatening to force nearly 280,000 consumers in Northern and Central California to find new doctors.
01/20/2015
Transplant first: Organ donation from UK newborn
In a procedure described as a milestone in neonatal care, a six-day-old baby girl’s kidneys and liver cells were given to two separate recipients after her heart stopped beating.
01/16/2015
Who Owns A Human Genome?
When a human subject is involved with a scientific study, researchers must obtain informed consent, right? Well, if the study in question involves genomics research, the answer isn’t so clear.
01/15/2015
Living loooooooonger: A conversation on longevity
01/14/2015
For Warhol, ’15 Brings More Fame
Get ready for a Warhol wave in 2015, and not just at auction. About 40 exhibitions of that artist’s work — much of it previously unseen by the public — will be flooding university art museums and institutions.
01/13/2015
Computers ‘judge personality better than friends
Computers can be better at predicting our personality than our friends and family, an experiment with tens of thousands of volunteers has indicated.
01/12/2015
Getting more exercise throughout life is tied to a reduced risk of abusing alcohol that requires treatment
Getting more exercise throughout life is tied to a reduced risk of abusing alcohol that requires treatment, according to a new study from Denmark.
01/12/2015
E-learning matches traditional training for doctors, nurses: review
Millions more students worldwide could train as doctors and nurses using electronic learning, which is just as effective as traditional medical training, a review commissioned by the World Health Organization has found.
01/09/2015
Genetic Testing Company 23andMe Finds New Revenue With Big Pharma
The past two years have been a rough and transformative time for the controversial DIY genetic testing company 23andMe. At the end of 2013, the Food and Drug Administration requested that the company shut down its main service, an analysis of a person’s genome gleaned from spit samples that anyone who purchased a kit could send in, noting that interpreting human genes—understanding what changes in DNA mean, and how they contribute or don’t contribute to disease—is still too much of a black box.
01/08/2015
Connecticut Supreme Court upholds ruling that teen must undergo chemo
The Connecticut Supreme Court upheld a prior ruling Thursday that a 17-year-old cancer patient cannot refuse chemotherapy treatment for Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
01/08/2015
TV medical advice not always backed by evidence
A Canadian analysis of advice from two popular health shows has stirred controversy with its conclusion that roughly half of the celebrity doctors’ recommendations are not based on solid evidence.
01/07/2015
How the U.S. Government Botched Its Multibillion-Dollar Plan to Beat Childhood Disease
In the late 1990s, scientists studying children’s health pondered crucial questions they couldn’t answer: Conditions as diverse as asthma and autism were increasing in prevalence, with no clear reason why.
01/06/2015
Can a Smartphone Tell if You’re Depressed?
Toward the end of Janisse Flowers’s pregnancy, a nurse at her gynecologist’s office asked her to download an iPhone app that would track how often she text messaged with friends, how long she talked on the phone and how far she traveled each day.
01/06/2015
Surprise! With $60 Million Genentech Deal, 23andMe Has A Business Plan
A deal being announced today with Genentech points the way for 23andMe, the personal genetics company backed by Facebook billionaire Yuri Milner and Google Ventures to become a sustainable business – even if the company’s discussions with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration stretch on for years.
01/05/2015
Genetic Testing and FDA RegulationOverregulation Threatens the Emergence of Genomic
In November 2014, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) revealed its intent to regulate thousands of medical diagnostic tests being performed in as many as 11 000 clinical laboratories throughout the United States, focusing especially on genomic medicine.
12/11/2014
Psychologist says U.S. Senate’s CIA report makes false charges
One of the two psychologists who devised the CIA’s harsh Bush-era interrogation methods said on Wednesday that a scathing U.S. Senate report on the torture of foreign terrorism suspects “took things out of context” and made false accusations.
12/11/2014
California study finds abortion complications very rare
Less than one quarter of one percent of abortion procedures result in major complications, a very low rate that is comparable to minor outpatient procedures in the U.S., according to a study of more than 50,000 women.
12/10/2014
Pfizer bets on gene therapy as technology comes of age
Pfizer Inc is moving into the gene therapy space in the latest sign that the technology for fixing faulty genes may finally be ready for prime time, following earlier setbacks.
12/09/2014
Best Way for Professors to Get Good Student Evaluations? Be Male.
Americans think being a man automatically makes you better in the boss department, many professors worry that students just automatically rate male professors as smarter, more authoritative, and more awesome overall just because they are men. Now, a new study out North Carolina State University shows that there is good reason for that concern.
12/08/2014
No increase in risky sexual activity with HPV vaccine
Vaccinating young girls against the sexually transmitted human papillomavirus (HPV) doesn’t lead to an increase in risky sexual activity, a new study shows.
12/04/2014
Scientists map genetic diversity of sub-Saharan Africa
Scientists have made the most comprehensive map yet of African genetic variation and say it should help them learn more about the role genes play in diseases such as malaria, hemorrhagic fever and hypertension in populations there.
12/04/2014
Mental engagement may preserve health literacy in aging
Surfing the net, going to museums or joining a club might have an unexpected side effect: improving the ability of older people to understand drug labels and doctors’ instructions, according to a new study in the UK.
12/03/2014
Heavy drinking raises women’s injury risk more than men’s
Heavy drinking increases the risk of being injured, and far more so for women than men, researchers say.
12/03/2014
Male circumcision benefits outweigh risks, U.S. CDC says
The benefits of male circumcision outweigh the risks, according a long awaited draft of federal guidelines from U.S. health officials released on Tuesday, which indicate that scientific evidence supports recommending the procedure.
12/02/2014
China tobacco monopoly pushes back on smoking curbs
The chief of China’s powerful tobacco monopoly on Monday pushed back against government efforts to curb smoking, a habit the World Health Organization says accounts for as many as a million deaths a year.
12/02/2014
In Senegal, women kill own babies due to strict abortion laws
Strict abortion laws in Senegal are forcing women to seek clandestine abortions and as a last resort kill their own infants, according to a new report by human rights groups.