IN THIS WEEK'S NEWSLETTER
Reminder to our readers
India's sex ratio continues to slide
The steepest declines took place in the prosperous northern states of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal and Gujarat, which fell below 800 girls per 1000 boys for the first time. The lowest ratio was 754 in Fatehgarh, in Punjab. The top ten districts with healthy sex ratios of more than 1000 girls per 1000 boys are largely in non-Hindu areas like Jammu and Kashmir and in the northeastern tribal regions.
"A stage may soon come where it would become extremely difficult, if not impossible, to make up for the missing girls," says François Farah of the UN Population Fund. "Today we are at a stage where many villages are having fewer or no small daughters and... the resulting imbalance can destroy the social and human fabric."
Campaigners against female infanticide complain that doctors are indifferent. Students at India's leading medical school, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, recently refused to cooperate with an awareness drive. "They are not taught enough about medical ethics," said Dr M.K. Bhan, a paediatrician at the Institute. "There is a large vacuum in the medical curriculum. The students are young. They are under a lot of pressure. In liberal arts, you are taught about ethics. In medical science, you are not." ~ Calcutta Telegraph, Oct 24; The Hindu, Oct 21; BMJ.com, Nov 1; New York Times, Oct 26 Singapore to allow research cloning
Battle over brain-damaged Florida woman continues
Although his opinion will have no effect upon the outcome, US President George W. Bush said that his brother had made the right decision. "The president is committed to creating a culture of life at all stages," the White House press secretary explained. "That means at all stage of life, many different conditions." ~ New York Times, Oct 29; AP, Oct 31 Schiavo case sparks interest in living wills
However, a recent article in the British Medical Journal contends that living wills, or advance directives, are open to widely varying interpretations. Based on a survey of Scottish health professionals, the report found that the outcome depends to a great extent on who interprets terms such as "life threatening", "irreversible" and "futile". Advance directives, it found, give little information about what a patient would regard as a good quality of life. Legislation compelling doctors to adhere to advance directives might be difficult to enforce. ~ Miami Herald, Oct 27; BMJ.com, Nov 1 Harvard researcher bypasses stem cell restrictions
Embryonic stem cells used to grow organs
Researchers were encouraged by the results but warned that growing replacement organs in the lab is still years away. Amongst other problems, commented Harvey Lodish, of the Whitehead Institute, there is always the chance that some of the embryonic stem cells could turn cancerous -- although patients desperate for a new heart or liver would probably accept the risk. ~ BBC, Oct 18; Boston Globe, Oct 28
In other research with embryonic stem cells, doctors at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary in Boston have generated sound- detecting hair cells. Hair cells convert sound waves into electrical signals to the brain, but they tend to die off as a person ages. This research suggests that it may be possible to treat deafness without resorting to cochlear implants. However, says Yehoash Raphael, of the University of Michigan, a hair cell specialist, there could be problems with rejection of transplanted cells. ~ New Scientist, Oct 27 Embryo legislation round-up
One beneficiary of a tough Canadian law on sales of sperm and eggs would be the US IVF industry. At the moment, most sperm supplied at Canadian clinics has been imported from the US where it was supplied by paid donors. If this were no longer available Canadian women would have to become reproductive tourists. "Doctors who run egg donation programs in the States all asked me about [the bill]," said Dr Ed Ryan, who works at three IVF clinics in Toronto. "They are thrilled because all the Canadian women will come to them." ~ National Post, Oct 31; Reuters, Oct 28
Spain -- The Spanish central government and the autonomous region of Andalusia have clashed over rules governing stem cell banks. Earlier this month the central government passed a law permitting a national stem cell bank which would hold cell lines derived from "spare" IVF embryos. Andalusia wants to set up a research institute in Granada to do research on embryos which have been frozen for more than 5 years. Most observers say that the constitutional conflict will be resolved in favour of Madrid. ~ The Scientist, Oct 27
Denmark -- Danish scientists have begun research on embryos after a new law came into effect on September 1. Only embryos left over from IVF treatment can be used. Nuclear transfers are prohibited along with both research and reproductive cloning. ~ The Scientist, Oct 28
Germany -- Germany's Justice Minister, Brigitte Zypries, has suggested redefining the boundary of "human dignity" for the embryo. In remarks which provoked a storm of protest from both parties in her coalition government, Ms Zypries said that "as long as an embryo is in vitro, it lacks the basic conditions necessary to develop, or be developed, as a human. The pure possibility that it can be developed in such a way does not, in my view, suffice for it to be ascribed human dignity." ~ AFP, Oct 30 Lift conversations breach confidentiality
As many as 35 million girls have been killed before, during or after birth in India over the last 100 years, according to the Indian census commissioner, J.K. Banthia. And the gap between girls and boys is accelerating, especially amongst the wealthier and better educated. A new report, Missing: mapping the adverse child sex ratio in India, issued by the UN Population Fund, shows that the sex ratio, which is calculated as the number of girls per 1000 boys in the 0-6 age bracket, declined from 945 in the 1991 census to 927 in the 2001 census. The normal ratio is about 950 to 1000.
At the heart of the decline are numerous doctors offering ultrasound scans to check the sex of the pregnant woman's baby. "Involvement of the medical community in this criminal activity indulged in by parents of the unborn child and the doctors is 100 per cent," says Dr Puneet Bedi, an independent health activist and gynaecologist. Sex determination has been banned since 1996, but this has only slowed the spread of the practice, not decreased it, according to the census commissioner.
Singapore will ban reproductive cloning but allow cloning of embryos for research, the health ministry announced at the close of its inaugural international stem cell conference. This pits Singapore against the US and more than 50 other nations who are lobbying in the United Nations for a ban on cloning embryos for any purpose whatsoever. The decision is part of the Singaporean government's bet that biotechnology will boom in coming decades. Its stake in the gamble is a US$500 million "Biopolis" which will eventually host more than 2,000 scientists in seven gleaming buildings. Major drug companies such as Novartis have already set up labs in Biopolis and several leading Western scientists have been recruited into key posts. ~ ABC, Oct 30; BBC, Oct 29
The battle over brain-damaged Florida woman Terri Schiavo took a new turn when a judge asked a professor of health care financing to report to the state's governor about whether she should be allowed to remain alive. Mrs Schiavo's feeding tube was removed at the request of her husband, but Governor Jeb Bush pushed through a special law to have it reinserted. This is now being challenged by her husband.
Harvard University scientist Douglas Melton has created 17 new embryonic stem cell lines which he will make available to researchers next year. Melton, who says that his research is driven by a desire to find a cure for his two diabetic children, feels that there are too few US-government approved stem cells lines and that their quality may be deteriorating anyway. "By providing more stem cell lines without restrictions we will encourage more research in the stem cell field," he told the press at Singapore's international stem cell conference. The new lines will probably be used by researchers who are not hampered by restrictions imposed as a condition of accepting US government funding. ~ AP, Oct 31
A small Canadian study has supported American and Danish studies that public lapses in patient confidentiality are widespread in hospitals. Medical students travelling in hospital lifts eavesdropped on conversations about patients by health professionals. More than 10% of the time, comments were made which compromised patients' confidentiality. In only 2 out of 18 instances did other passengers ask that the conversation be stopped. ~ BMJ.com, Nov 1
The largest IVF clinic in the UK's national health scheme has admitted that embryos belonging to 10 couples were mistakenly exposed to sperm from other men. It is believed that a pipette at Liverpool Women's Hospital had inadvertently been used twice.
The couples involved were given the choice of destroying their embryos and starting IVF treatment over again. DNA tests would be needed to confirm who the father was, although doctors assured them that there was no chance that a baby fathered by the wrong man would result. In the event, the couples accepted the assurances of the hospital's medical director, Dr David Richmond, and there were no abortions. Only one child was born. ~ Liverpool Daily Post, Oct 28
The world's largest exporter of sperm, Cryos International, of Denmark, has admitted that one of its suppliers was a psychopathic murderer who was recently jailed for life after killing his three-week old daughter. Heine Nielsen, 32, was paid for making more than 520 deposits. There are fears that he may have fathered hundreds of babies in 40 countries. He was recognised by an employee of the bank, who saw his photo in the press. Cryos says that it will be impossible to track where his sperm went because donations are anonymous. ~ Starmedia; London Sun, Oct 27 
A 69-year-old Mexican woman is reportedly pregnant with her deceased husband's sperm, which had been frozen in a Houston fertility clinic since 1997. Former actress and senator Irma Serrano, known as "La Tigresa", says that motherhood had never appealed to her before, but a longing for a child had suddenly kicked in. Her niece is acting as a surrogate mother for another embryo. "I don't worry about the future of my children for I have left a fortune for them to inherit," says Mrs Serrano. ~ Terra (Mexico), Oct 28
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