Bioethics News.
07/02/2014
Everything We Know About Facebook’s Secret Mood Manipulation Experiment
Facebook’s News Feed—the main list of status updates, messages, and photos you see when you open Facebook on your computer or phone—is not a perfect mirror of the world.
07/02/2014
Study finds vaccine side effects extremely rare
Serious complications related to vaccines are very rare, and there is no evidence that immunizations cause autism, according to an analysis of 67 research studies.
07/01/2014
Doctors Are Examining Your Genitals for No Reason
In total, gynecological screenings cost the U.S. $2.6 billion every year. And yet, a new study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine reports that there is no established medical justification for the annual procedure.
06/30/2014
Facebook responds to criticism of its experiment on users
Facebook is unapologetic about the “emotional contagion” experiment it was conducting on customers.
06/30/2014
Stem cells: Taking a stand against pseudoscience
Elena Cattaneo and Gilberto Corbellini are among the academics working to protect patients from questionable stem-cell therapies. Here, they share their experiences and opinions of the long, hard fight for evidence to prevail.
06/25/2014
Watching too much TV could shorten your life
The average American adult spends about four and a half hours a day watching TV — and that’s more than enough to take a toll on their health and longevity.
06/24/2014
It’s time to get your brain in shape
From the outside, the human brain might not be much to look at. What makes it fascinating is hidden within, in the complicated circuitry of neurons that makes you who you are.
06/24/2014
BPA Alternative May Still Have Endocrine Effects
A plasticizer commonly substituted for bisphenol A (BPA) may cause similar endocrine-disrupting effects as the original chemical, researchers reported here.
06/23/2014
Critical Care Challenge: Dying with Dignity in the Intensive Care Unit
After a long ICU stay because of septic shock and multiple complications, a frail 77-year-old man had a fall and suffered an acute subdural hematoma and hemorrhagic contusion. Twelve days after evacuation of the subdural hematoma, he remains in a coma and is still receiving mechanical ventilation. How should decisions be made about further treatment?
06/23/2014
Cancer-gene data sharing boosted
When the US diagnostics giant Myriad Genetics had its legal monopoly on breast-cancer gene testing eliminated one year ago, the company still retained an enormous edge over competitors.
06/23/2014
Why are some depressed, others resilient? Scientists home in one part of the brain.
Many of us find ourselves swimming along in the tranquil sea of life when suddenly a crisis hits — a death in the family, the loss of a job, a bad breakup. Some power through and find calm waters again, while others drown in depression.
06/18/2014
Stroke ‘selfie’ helps save Canadian woman’s life
“The sensation is happening again,” Stacey Yepes tells the camera. “It’s all tingling on left side.”
06/16/2014
Dad invents bionic pancreas to help diabetic son
Biomedical engineer Ed Damiano developed a device to monitor his son David’s blood sugar levels, but the invention could soon also wind up in the hands of other type 1 diabetics.
06/16/2014
U.S. health care system ranks last among 11 industrialized nations
Even though it’s the most expensive, the United States’ health care system ranks last among 11 industrialized nations in a new study that examines factors such as quality, efficiency and access to care
06/13/2014
For One Baby, Life Begins with Genome Revealed
How a California father made an end run around medicine to decode his son’s DNA.
06/11/2014
Google, Autism Speaks team up on database of whole genomes
Autism Speaks is teaming up with Google on what the research foundation says is the world’s largest database of whole genomes, a move that could accelerate research into autism spectrum disorder.
06/10/2014
People Unemployed Over A Year Are 2 Times More Likely To Be Depressed Than Employed Americans
A new poll reveals that unemployed adults in the United States were more than twice as likely to have been treated for depression than those who are currently employed.
06/10/2014
Light-sensitive retina created with human stem cells
Researchers from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, MD, have created a miniature human retina in a dish from human stem cells, which they say can sense light. They are hopeful their creation could eventually lead to technologies one day that restore vision.
06/09/2014
Study: Price tag of autism in the U.S. exceeds $236 billion per year
A new study estimates that the lifetime cost of being diagnosed with autism in the United States is somewhere between $1.43 million and $2.44 million.
06/09/2014
Military Funds Brain-Computer Interfaces to Control Feelings
Researcher Jose Carmena has worked for years training macaque monkeys to move computer cursors and robotic limbs with their minds. He does so by implanting electrodes into their brains to monitor neural activity.
06/06/2014
The National Institutes of Health is Working to Launch the BRAIN Initiative
About a year ago, President Obama announced the “launch” of the Brain Research through Advancing Innovative
Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative. The National Institutes of Health approved an agenda and new funding plan on Thursday.
06/04/2014
Japan researcher agrees to withdraw disputed stem cell paper
A Japanese researcher accused of fabricating scientific results originally hailed as a breakthrough in stem cell research has agreed to retract two papers, deepening doubts about her “game- changing” findings.
06/04/2014
Stress hormone receptors in taste buds ‘may help explain emotional eating’
In a new study, the investigators identified receptors for stress-activated hormones located in oral taste buds responsible for detecting sweet, savory and bitter tastes.
06/03/2014
China follows USA with emissions pledge
One day after the United States said it would slash carbon emissions from existing power plants by 30% below 2005 levels, China, the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases, said it would set an absolute cap on its emissions by 2016.
06/03/2014
End-of-Life Doc Payment Plan Returns to the Fray
06/02/2014
Insured young cancer patients fare better, live longer: study
Young adults with cancer are far more likely to recover or live longer if they have health insurance, a new study on the potential impact of the Affordable Care Act shows.
06/02/2014
A nice, bright smile: Scientists use lasers to regrow teeth
Scientists have come up with a bright idea – literally – to repair teeth.
05/30/2014
Exposure to smoke in cars may worsen asthma: study
People with asthma may face increased risk from secondhand smoke exposure while riding in the close quarters of a vehicle, according to U.S. researchers.