commentaries
Diane Beeson
The Growing Global Challenge to Egg Harvesting for Cloning Research
Looking back on 2006, one of the most significant developments related to stem-cell research was the emergence of organized global opposition to the increasingly aggressive efforts of scientist-entrepreneurs to acquire women's eggs for cloning research.
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Nigel M. de S. Cameron
The U.S. State Department recently hosted a panel discussion at the United Nations in New York City. Invited presenters included the Institute on Biotechnology and the Human Future's (IBHF) Nigel Cameron and two of our IBHF fellows, Judy Norsigian and Adrienne Asch. Following is a transcript of comments presented by Nigel Cameron.
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Judith F. Daar
Current Controversies in Reproductive Medicine
Birth in the modern era is trending toward the technical, with virtually every Western
birth preceded by a screening test or imagining study that enables parents to preview their
developing offspring in utero.
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Nanette R. Elster
All or Nothing? The International Debate over Disclosure to Donor Offspring
Quite The headlines appearing in newspapers and magazines during the last three decades provide a time line revealing the range of issues raised by gamete donation and the secrecy that has historically surrounded the practice. The story told through the headlines in the popular press identifies the basic categories of concern with use of anonymous donor gametes and illustrates that the issues under discussion and debate today are in no way new.
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Elana Hayasaka
Excerpted Remarks from the Health Risks of Egg Extraction
at the Korea Womenlink Forum on Biotechnology and Women's Rights
Many people are under the misimpression that there are no significant risks to egg extraction because it is practiced so widelyÐin several hundred IVF clinics across the United States and hundreds more across the globe. But widespread practice of any procedure or widespread use of any drug does not necessarily tell us very much about the health and safety issues at stake.
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Rosario Isasi
Genetic Enhancement in Sports
As the field of gene therapy progresses and its promise to become a widely available therapy progresses as well, so too does the potential for misapplication by professional and amateur athletes. For instance, erythropoietin, a protein hormone commonly used medically to increase hematocrit levels in patients with chronic renal disease, might be genetically engineered and used to increase endurance capabilities in athletes.
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Michele Mekel
Early Lessons from Second Life: A Study in Reality
Second Life, Linden Labs' virtual world, has taken on a life of its own, so to speak, with a population of more than 4 million "residents" and an economy where approximately $1.5 million (U.S.) is transacted on a daily basis.
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M. Ellen Mitchell
Nanotechnology in Society's Context
While the public has been told numerous times that medicine will, for example, cure cancer, extinguish infant mortality, and wipe out other major diseases, no field before nanotechnology has promised to cure all the ails of the body, deliver immortality, and solve problems of the planet.
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Stuart Newman
Seeds of Contention
Most discussions of human stem cells in the public media have focused on two categories: embryonic stem (ES) cells and adult stem cells. ES cells are derived from early-stage embryos produced in vitro. While they are the more versatile of the two categories in their ability to give rise to a wide range of cell types (a characteristic known as "multipotency"), their use in experimental studies and potentially in therapies has proven contentious.
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