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A child of many parents: a new way to have two mothers

A child of many parents: a new way to have two mothers

The Guardian and Telegraph, are today reporting that British scientists have created ten human embryos which each include DNA from one man and two women. This was done by taking a one day old IVF embryo and removing its pronuclei (the parts containing the chromosomes from the parents). These were then inserted into an egg cell from the second woman, which has had its nucleus removed. The result is a new embryo with its primary DNA coming from a man and a woman, and the body of its cell coming from the second woman. This is an amazing experiment, and comes hot on the heels of other multi-parent experiments, but why has it been performed and what are the ethical implications?

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The Daily Mail reports on a helmet that supposedly ‘could reverse the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease within weeks of being used’. The helmet uses near infrared light, which can penetrate the skull of patients. According to the Mail: Its creators believe it could reverse the symptoms of dementia – such as memory loss and anxiety… Read More »

Meet Mom, Mom and Mom: is there anything wrong with same-sex genetic parents?

The Daily Mail reports on a New Scientist article about the possibilities of same-sex reproduction. Researchers at Newcastle upon Tyne have coaxed stem cells in male bone marrow to developing  into spermatogonia, which in turn have been coaxed to divide into sperm cells. According to New Scientist they may have succeeded in producing spermatogonia from female marrow, and are now working on the final step to turn them into sperm. In that case it would be possible for two women to be the genetic parents of a child. Other research aims at turning skin cells into eggs, which could allow two males to be genetic parents of a child (with the help of a surrogate mother). While the research aims at helping infertility the obvious possibility is same-sex parenthood. Is it a good idea to create kids with two or three moms, or two dads and a mom?

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Hybrid Embryos and Dying Children

The BBC yesterday reported that the government is looking into calls to remove the ban on creating human-animal hybrid embryos using cells from dying children. As things stand the Human Fertilisation and Embryology (HFE) Bill being considered in parliament would forbid such research without the consent of the child. In a letter to health minister Lord Darzi, a group led by the Genetic Interest Group (GIG) has argued that the Bill as it stands “imposes a barrier to one of the most potent tools for research into the most severe childhood diseases.” Our understanding of diseases such as Tay Sachs and Spinal Muscular Atrophy stands to be greatly enhanced by the use of stem cells obtained from such hybrid embryos.

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The bread of life: should we enhance our food?

A new study from the US suggests that folic acid supplements may
substantially reduce the risk of premature birth. This has reinforced
calls for the fortification of flour with folic acid. Although this
reported effect on preterm births is new, there are well documented
public health benefits of folic acid.(1) The food standards agency in
the UK finally decided in May last year that folic acid would be added
to either flour or bread, after years of lobbying.

Supplementing bread and flour is an effective way of providing health
supplements on a population level. But how much should we add to food
staples in the name of public health? Should additives be limited to
those that prevent serious disease, or if available, should we add
things to food that enhance health?

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Funding cuts for homoeopathy

The Guardian, Times and BBC are today reporting that National Heath Service funding for homoeopathy is on the decline. A survey conducted by Pulse has found that only 37% percent of the UK’s primary care trusts are still funding homoeopathy services, with more than 25% having reduced funding to homoeopathy in the last two years.

The real news, I would argue, is that more than a third of the UK’s funding bodies are still funding the alternative medicine.

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I won’t be coming to work today – I’d rather go back to sleep

The BBC
reported yesterday that the inability of
some people to get out of bed in the morning is genetically determined. A study at the University of Zurich
found that individual cells have ‘clocks’, which regulate body processes. The schedule of these clocks determines whether one is better suited to early mornings or late nights.

When a pattern of behaviour is found to be
biologically based, those who exhibit it often find themselves excused from
responsibility for it, particularly if it is correctable. It is not the fault of dyslexics that they
make mistakes reading and spelling, and it is not the fault of Tourette
syndrome sufferers that they make offensive remarks. As a result, medical help is provided for
sufferers of these conditions. Sometimes, however, the view that those who exhibit undesirable,
biologically-determined behaviour should be excused from responsibility for it,
and their behaviour medically corrected, is controversial. For example, many view the widespread
prescription of Ritalin to treat attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder
(ADHD) in children as suspect, in part because it encourages the view that
unruly but normal children are diseased, and therefore excuses those children
and their parents from applying discipline to reign in the offending behaviour.

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Synthetic life

      Last Friday’s issue of Science contained a paper announcing the creation of a synthetic chromosome by a team of scientists headed up by the biologist and entrepreneur Craig Venter. Venter is a very controversial figure. He was described as the ‘bête noire of the scientific establishment’ by Colin Blakemore in an article that appeared in The Observer on Sunday. Blakemore calls for a public debate to establish a regulatory framework for research on synthetic life. He suggests that in the absence of such a debate we may see legitimate concerns about the risks of synthetic life hijacked by religious organisations, such as the Catholic Church, who worry about scientists ‘playing God’. And religious organisations are not the only organisations that have had an emotional response to synthetic life. The Canadian biotechnology lobby organisation, the ETC group, who call for a moratorium on the release and commercialisation of synthetic life forms have a comic strip, prominently displayed on their website, which ends with the birth of Synthia, a ‘new species of bacterium with entirely human-made DNA’, replete with an evil-looking face and little horns on its head.

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Paying for better health: Should patients be able to pay for expensive cancer drugs?

In the last month there have been a number of cases of patients with terminal cancer appealing for access to novel drugs that are not currently funded under the NHS. In Scotland yesterday a man with terminal bowel cancer succeeded in his battle to get NHS funding for a new and expensive drug cetuximab. This follows the recent publicity over two patients with breast cancer who have been fighting to be allowed to pay privately for another new drug bevacizumab.

These drugs are genetically engineered antibodies developed by a US biotech company to target growth factors commonly found in tumour cells. The drugs have been shown to improve survival of patients with some cancers, but evidence is lacking in other types of cancer.

This sort of dilemma is not unique to the UK. There is similar debate about access to bevacizumab in Canada and Australia. Some of the debate is about the science, and whether or not the drugs have been conclusively proven to be of benefit. However there are also ethical questions about the rationing of expensive treatments in public health care systems. It is generally accepted that there are finite resources available for healthcare, and that not all treatments can be afforded. But if public funding isn’t available for health treatment should patients be able to pay privately to access them?

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A presumed consent system for organ donation

Earlier this month, Gordon Brown, writing in the Sunday Telegraph, voiced his support for a presumed consent system for post-death organ donation in the UK. At present, organs may be procured from a dead body without the family’s consent if the deceased had actively opted-on to a national organ donation register. Under a presumed consent system, all would be included on the register unless they had actively ‘opted out’.

Objecting to Brown’s proposal, the economist and journalist Irwin Stelzer writes in the Telegraph this week:

90 per cent of us favour organ donation, but only 25 per cent make advance arrangements to become donors. From that, the opt-out advocates conclude that most of the non-donors are merely negligent: they forget to register. Really?

It is equally plausible that non-participants have no objection to the procedure, but simply do not want to participate, just as many (most) people have no objection to elections, but choose not to participate, for reasons sufficient unto themselves.

This objection strikes me as unpersuasive.

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