The notion of having three parents was one of the more striking features of the report. It points out that many children in New Zealand effectively have three or more "parents" in any case. In some instances, this has happened because of family breakdown. In others, it is a result of the extended families in Islander communities. The commission also notes that there are no restrictions on the number of guardians who can be appointed for a child. Furthermore, rapidly progressing human reproductive science may enable a child to have three genetic parents in the future. "All such developments strain the logic of restricting the law to an unalterable two-parent family model," the report contends.
Unsurprisingly, the commission's proposal were controversial. "New Zealanders should be asking just where the politically correct madness and experimentation with our children's future is going to stop," said a spokeswoman for the New Zealand First party, Barbara Stewart. ~ New Zealand Herald, Apr 21; New Issues in Legal Parenthood
Supporters of research on embryonic stem cells have been cheered by a report in the New Scientist that old adult stem cells can also turn cancerous. Although ESCs easily turn into aggressive tumours called teratomas when injected into animals, it was generally thought that adult stem cells were more docile. However, scientists in Spain have published a study in the journal Cancer Research which says that when stem cells divide between 90 and 140 times, they can form cancers. A Danish group also published research in the same issue which appears to support the Spanish study.
The upshot of this research is that cells are safe to use until they begin manufacturing telomerase. Telomerase is an enzyme which protects the cells' telomeres -- genetic "fuses" which prompt cells to die off after a certain number of generations. The Spanish team suggests 60 generations as a provisional cut-off point.
The scientists stressed that the cancers came about in a very artificial situation, as usually adult stem cells are grown outside the body only for a short time. "In normal conditions in clinical applications we think the cells are pretty safe, but we must be careful," says Antonio Bernad, of the Autonomous University of Madrid. "The key is not to grow them for too long."
These results add to the simmering controversy amongst scientists about the potential uses of adult stem cells. Although there have been studies which suggest that their developmental clocks can be turned back, giving them more or less the same potential as ESCs, many embryonic stem cell scientists have told the media that they are sceptical. Some, like Larry Goldstein, of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, told the Los Angeles Times that they haven't had time to read the latest papers about the potential of adult stem cells. "I'm turning a blind eye to all of it," says Dr Goldstein. "I figure if something really good happens, I'll hear about it and go read about it."
Three scientists have recently published peer-reviewed work which indicates that adult stem cells may be as malleable as ESCs. Catherine Verfaillie, of the University of Minnesota, is investigating bone marrow stem cells; Alan Mackay-Sim, of Griffith University in Brisbane, is looking at nerve cells in the nose; and Douglas Losardo, of Tufts University, found that bone marrow differentiated into nine kinds of tissue. ~ Los Angeles Times, Apr 24; Australian, Apr 22; New Scientist, Apr 21
Australian govt proposes cutbacks to IVF funding
IVF has become a political football in Australia after Federal government ministers hinted that women's entitlement to funding for unlimited IVF cycles would be rolled back in its May budget. Nobody's going to stop IVF treatment where IVF treatment has reasonable chance of success," says Treasurer Peter Costello. "But there's no point in giving treatments where there is a very, very low chance of success." Apparently the government is planning to cover only three cycles a year for women under 42 and three cycles in total for older women.
After Medicare's share of the costs of IVF treatment rose by 25% in 2004, Health Minister Tony Abbott also claimed that some IVF doctors might be "profiteering". In Australia, the average cost of an IVF cycle is about $8000, with the government picking up about half the bill. However, the IVF industry denied that there had been a substantial increase in charges. "The maximum increase on any clinic was just under 10%," said Professor Michael Chapman, of the Fertility Society of Australia. Sniffing an opportunity to make some political mileage, the Shadow Health Minister, Julia Gillard, also attacked the mooted changes and launched a petition to protest against caps on IVF subsidies. Women are concerned they may not be able to have a baby, she said. ~ Age (Melbourne), Apr 21; Sydney Morning Herald, Apr 24
1 in 25 Danes born through IVF
The latest European statistics show that 3.9% of all births in Denmark came as a result of IVF -- probably the highest proportion in the world. The next highest was Slovenia, with 3.2%, but in all the Nordic countries of Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, more than 2% of births are IVF births. Since the most recent figures date from 2001, the current levels are sure to be higher. ~ Human Reproduction, May
IN BRIEF: Frankenstein rice; suicide; IVF death
GM foods: Japanese scientists have developed a strain of rice with a human gene which is resistant to pesticides and could be used to clean up polluted soil. The liver gene is particularly good at breaking down harmful chemicals in the body. Anti-GM food campaigners are denouncing the development as a kind of cannibalism and as another "Frankenstein food". An American biotechnologist who supports the research also warned that if the gene were to spread to wild relatives of rice, it might create a super-weed which is resistant to a wide range of herbicides. ~ Independent, Apr 24
Suicide: Men whose partner has committed suicide are 46 times as likely to commit suicide themselves -- three times the risk for women bereaved in this way, reports the BBC. As well, according to a Danish study in the Journal of Epidemiology and Child Health, separation, divorce and the loss of a child through suicide or other causes also double the risk of suicide in both parents. ~ BBC, Apr 15
IVF death: An inquest has found that the death of a UK woman who died only two days after beginning IVF treatment was due to ovarian hypo- stimulation syndrome. Gynaecologist John Parsons, of Kings College Hospital, says that his staff were shocked by the death but that the risk of IVF-related death was really very small. ~ Local London, Apr 20
Aborted Ukrainian foetuses are being smuggled into Russia to be used as beauty therapies in Russia, the Observer newspaper (UK) claims. Young women are being paid about US$200 for a foetus which can fetch $9,500 across the border. Earlier this month Russian border guards arrested a Ukrainian "mule" carrying 25 frozen foetuses in two vacuum flasks which he had purchased from a medical research centre. "We are talking about a huge, corrupt and dangerous trade in quack therapies,' says Professor Vladimir Smirnov, of Moscow's Institute of Experimental Cardiology.
Family doctors who want to euthanase their patients can now purchase a 60-Euro kit with the necessary materials at 250 pharmacies throughout Belgium. According to the TV channel RTI-TVi, the GPs will have to order the kit and pick it up themselves 24 hours later. Belgian doctors have complained that it has been difficult to practice home euthanasia because of their lack of knowledge about products, doses or products. ~ AFP, Apr 17
A California specialist in stem cell cures for spinal cord injuries and his financial backer are lobbying to test his novel techniques on humans without necessarily having trials on primates. Although normally new therapies are tested on larger animals such as dogs and monkeys before using them on humans, Hans Keirstead, of the Reeve-Irvine Research Center, maintains that spinal trauma victims must be helped as soon as possible. "Are we going to learn anything from the monkey studies?" he asks. "If so, then yes, we should do them. If not, then it's a waste of time and a delay for getting into humans."
New Zealand children would be able to have three legal parents if changes to parenthood laws tabled in Parliament are adopted. According to an official report by a national legal think-tank, "New Issues in Legal Parenthood", egg and sperm donors should be able to opt in" to legal parenthood if the other two parents agree. The main thrust of the report is that any changes to existing legislation should ensure that the roles of sperm or egg donors and surrogate mothers are crystal clear before children are conceived. It is sympathetic to children's right to know their biological parents and suggests that parents annotate birth certificates to indicate that the child was born with the help of a donor.