” I love the topic of designer babies,” writes Hinsch, “because difficult questions need to be asked about all kinds of emerging technologies from nanotechnology to therapeutic and reproductive human cloning.” It can be overwhelming, she ways, “but the only thing we can count on is change–that the nature of the technology will evolve while the challenges remain.”
According to Hinsch there are some key questions that need to be answered as we move forward:
- Should we ban it?
- Should we regulate the technology to allow only certain applications?
- Should we promote the widespread use of this technology?
Some believe, for example, that genetic modification holds tremendous promise for preventing genetic diseases and that society should pursue policies to promote or encourage its use in the future, despite what other sideline “designer” applications are developed as a result. The Wall Street Journal published an article last week on the topic of human trait selection—a pending reproductive procedure that’s more commonly (and pejoratively) referred to as designer babies. In the article, ”A Baby, Please. Blond, Freckles—Hold the Colic”, writer Gautam Naik describes those laboratory techniques that screen for diseases in embryos and how those techniques will soon be offered to prospective parents.
|
The WSJ article prompted Kathryn Hinsch of the Women’s Bioethics Project to respond with a list of reasons why human trait selection is an important topic today:
- It’s a hive of ethical issues
- The technology isn’t here yet
- We all have a stake in the issue
- Questions raised go beyond designer babies
Read more at ieet.org |
| Researchers at North Carolina State University have successfully modified a common plant virus to deliver drugs only to specific cells inside the human body, without affecting surrounding tissue. These tiny “smart bombs” - each one thousands of times smaller than the width of a human hair - could lead to more effective chemotherapy treatments with greatly reduced, or even eliminated, side effects. |
| The researchers deploy the virus by attaching small proteins, called signal peptides, to its exterior that cause the virus to “seek out” particular cells, such as cancer cells. Those same signal peptides serve as “passwords” that allow the virus to enter the cancer cell, where it releases its cargo. |
| The researchers believe that their method will alleviate the side effects of common chemotherapy treatments, while maximizing the effectiveness of the treatment. See more at www.physorg.com |
| Scientists are genetically engineering goats to produce the same milk as a human mother. |
| They claim the breakthrough will allow babies whose mothers can’t feed them to receive all the goodness of breast milk. |
| Researchers behind the experiments reject fears of Dr Frankenstein-style tinkering with nature. |
| They say their work will also lead to the development of medicines exploiting the antibiotic qualities of lactoferrin, a protein found in women’s milk. |
The revelations follow research by scientists in Russia and Belarus in which male mice were implanted with human genes. ‘This led to surprising amounts of lactoferrin being produced in their female offspring - 160grams per litre of milk,’ said the project’s chief, Dr Elena Sadchikova. Researchers then switched to goats to obtain much larger quantities of lactoferrin. Now 90 females sired by GM male goats are being raised on a secret farm outside Moscow. See more at www.dailymail.co.uk |
| Testicles frozen for a decade have produced four healthy, cloned calves. |
| The latest findings, published Thursday in Public Library of Science ONE, come with the same speculation. Dig up some frozen tissue, stick a mammoth cell nucleus in an elephant’s fertilized egg: Voila! A formerly extinct animal, now quite alive. |
| It’s far-fetched, no doubt, but becoming more realistic. A bull ” a bull named Yasufuku, to be exact, renowned for the marbled quality of his progeny’s beef ” is far closer to a mammoth than a mouse. |
| Though the researchers used Yasufuku’s testicles, clones can be made with cells taken from other tissue ” a useful technique, should no mammoth testicles be preserved. See more at blog.wired.com |
| For the first time, the FDA will evaluate a drug that comes from a genetically modified animal, a production method that could yield cheap drugs that could be used to treat rare conditions or stockpiled for pandemics and other emergencies. |
| On Friday the agency will consider a protein-based blood thinner that is produced in the glands of transgenic goats and harvested from their milk. |
| Known as ATryn, the drug is already on the European market, but if approved, it will be the first medication made by a GM animal to be sold in the United States. |
| “The mammary gland itself has developed naturally to efficiently
express a variety of proteins as nutrition for offspring,” said Thomas
Newberry, the vice president of GTC Biotherapeutics. |
| GTC Biotherapeutics, based in Framingham, Massachusetts, has mastered the art of making drugs flow from the teats of livestock. Its tricks could slash the price of manufacturing protein-based medications, which are notoriously expensiveSee more at blog.wired.com |
| A solution to the world’s energy
problems may lie in a Chinese mushroom growing in Novozymes A/S
laboratories. |
| The Danish company’s scientists in China, Brazil, Denmark
and the U.S. are testing mushrooms and lichen to find one that
will turn corn cobs and sugarcane stalks into biofuel. An
affordable alternative to gasoline made from plant waste would
end concerns that global hunger for energy is driving up food
prices worldwide. |
| Novozymes said it will find the answer by 2010, getting to
the market before its closest rival, |
| Fungi like mushrooms and lichen make enzymes to eat rotting
logs and decaying leaves. Biofuel producers use the proteins to
break down the complex carbohydrates in plant cells into a soup-
like mixture of simple sugars that yeast can eat. |
| In a process
much like making beer, yeast ferments the mixture, producing
ethanol. |
| “In 2010, we will have enzymes commercially available and a
process that will allow our customers to produce at around $2.50
per gallon,” See more at www.bloomberg.com |
|
