BioEdge 233 -- Tuesday, 2 January 2007
|
|
THIS WEEK 
Down syndrome screening could become universal in US
Doctors will recommend it for women under 35
Good old Mum
67-year-old Spanish woman sets record
Man at centre of Italian euthanasia debate dies
Doctor pulls plug of life support system
Criminals involved in unconventional stem cell treatments
Allegations of baby-snatching in Ukraine
Stem cell critic shown the door by MIT
Sherley vows to fight decision
Opposition to stem cell research will disappear, says research chief
And the public will become immune to hype, predicts journalist
We're trailing China and Singapore, say US scientists
Stem cell scientists wave flag
Changes on horizon for IVF
IVM could replace IVF DOWN SYNDROME SCREENING COULD BECOME UNIVERSAL IN US 
All pregnant American women should be offered screening for Down syndrome in their first trimestre, not just over-35s, according to guidelines from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Although women over 35 have a much higher chance of bearing Down syndrome children, younger women actually give birth to most of them. Appropriate counselling should be given to women if the test proves positive. If it is, most women abort the child. Hence, widespread screening will eventually eliminate most Down syndrome children.
The guidelines are already being followed in most academic centres, but not in private practices, especially smaller ones and those in rural areas. The reason for the change of policy lies in the greater safety and accuracy of the tests which are now available. In the past, confirmation of a Down syndrome diagnosis involved invasive tests which killed 1 in 200 foetuses. This risk has declined sharply over the past 10 years. ~ Los Angeles Times, Dec 31
Never one to shun controversy or inconsistency, the controversial Italian IVF specialist Severino Antinori complained that 67 was just too old to become a mother. "What's happened in Spain is reprehensible," he told an Italian newspaper. "Having a baby isn't like drinking a glass of water, there are criteria, and one of these is an age limit." However, Antinori could be jealous -- in May he helped a 64-year-old woman become Britain's oldest mother. ~ Reuters, Dec 30, Jan 2
MAN AT CENTRE OF ITALIAN EUTHANASIA DEBATE DIES 
Stage 1 of a controversy over the fate of a Italian man paralysed by muscular dystrophy has finished. Cutting through legal and medical debate, anaesthetist Mario Riccio simply turned off Piergiorgio Welby's life support system. "This must not be mistaken for euthanasia. It is a suspension of therapies," Dr Riccio defiantly told a news conference in Rome. "Refusing treatment is a right."
Mr Welby's plight had become a national sensation. He breathed with the help of respirator, used a feeding tube to eat, and communicated through a computer with flickers of his eyes. He used his illness to lobby for legalised euthanasia. However, he was frustrated by the courts which ruled that while he had a constitutional right to have his life support system turned off, doctors were also obliged to resuscitate him. Italian medical authorities have now summoned Dr Riccio to explain his actions, which have been described as murder by some opponents of euthanasia. Leading Catholic spokesmen were more cautious in their response. Bishop Elio Sgreccia, the president of the Pontifical Academy for Life, says that the facts of the Welby case were muddled by the heat of the debate. Cardinal Javier Lozano Barragan, the president of the Pontifical Council for Health Care, observed that extraordinary medical treatment could become "therapeutic cruelty" when it merely prolonged the suffering of a dying patient. Because of his outspoken support for euthanasia, Welby was still denied a Church funeral. ~ BBC, Dec 21; Catholic World News, Jan
CRIMINALS INVOLVED IN UNCONVENTIONAL STEM CELL TREATMENTS In spine-chilling article in the Daily Mail, Matthew Hill followed the trail of stem cells used by a shady clinic in Barbados. The Institute for Regenerative Medicine freely admits using stem cells from aborted babies in the Ukraine for treatments ranging from curing degenerative diseases to reversing ageing. An eminent British stem cell specialist, Dr Stephen Minger, is sceptical about the efficacy of the treatments and asked how the stem cells had been harvested. "They may just homogenise the whole embryo," he said. In the Ukraine, Hill pursued claims that infants had been snatched from women immediately after childbirth by hospital staff and dissected for their tissues. Their mothers had been told that the babies were stillborn or died at birth. The local authorities have now reluctantly allowed a post-mortem examination of around 30 babies. What the journalist saw in a gruesome video was consistent with organ theft and stem cell harvesting. Authorities at the local hospital have denied vehemently that the children were stolen or that their organs had been harvested. These claims, implausible as they may sound, are being taken seriously by the Council of Europe, which is conducting its own investigation. And in Noida, a posh suburb of New Delhi, a local businessman and his servant have been arrested and charged with sexually abusing and murdering at least 17 children of poor servants and street vendors. The bioethical twist to this appalling tale of serial killings is that police are investigating whether the children's organs might have been taken as well. Few torsos had been found amongst the remains, suggesting that organs had been removed. Police raided a nearby medical centre in search of evidence. ~ Daily Mail, Dec 15; Peninsula, Jan 3
STEM CELL CRITIC SHOWN THE DOOR BY MIT Dr Sherley, an Afro-American, has circulated a letter amongst his colleagues alleging several instances of racial discrimination against him. Within MIT, a leading centre for embryonic stem cell research, his scientific and ethical views are controversial, even inflammatory. He contends that his research "poses an intellectually disruptive threat" and says that MIT "might tolerate and even celebrate such a challenge from a white faculty member, but never from one who is black." MIT has denied Dr Sherley's allegations. It says that its protocols for granting tenure are "thorough and extensive" and were followed "with integrity". Last year Dr Sherley won a Pioneer Award from the National Institutes of Health, a US$2.5 million grant for "highly innovative research". ~ Inside Higher Ed, Dec 27
OPPOSITION TO STEM CELL RESEARCH WILL DISAPPEAR, He predicts a steady stream of positive news from stem cell research this year -- although the single recent development he cites employed adult stem cells. "I predict that the immorality of not helping the undeniably living sick will soon outweigh that of protecting the never-to-be-born," he writes. The fascinating collection of crystal-ball-gazing by the great and good in Edge also includes a rosy scenario painted by the science editor of The Daily Telegraph, Roger Highfield. He dares to predict that "the public will become immune to hype". Although this seems even more implausible than finding a cure for cancer next week, Highfield is optimistic. "In the wake of years of hype over the practical significance of gene discoveries, fusion power, magic bullets, superconductivity, gene therapy, cures for ageing, and embryonic stem cells, the public will become more pessimistic about the practical benefits of discoveries made in the lab and more appreciative of what science is really about - basic curiosity, rationality and the never-ending dialogue between ideas and experiments." ~ Edge 2007
WE'RE TRAILING CHINA AND SINGAPORE, SAY US SCIENTISTS "China is the sleeping giant," says Dr Fred Gage, of the Salk Institute. With much looser standards of clinical research ethics, researchers there are able to test experimental therapies on hundreds of patients. In the US, there have been no trials as yet, although Geron, a company which specialises in embryonic stem cell applications, is about to start one. Other countries, including India and some European nations, are pushing potential therapies into trials faster than the US. However, the San Diego Union-Tribune ends its survey of this sobering news on an upbeat note: Yankee know-how is sure to triumph in the end. "There is something indomitable about the American spirit that allows American scientists who are really driven and really smart to figure out a lot of ways to circumvent any difficulty," Snyder says. We have a lot of confidence despite the competition internationally that we will probably, somehow, win the game in terms of bringing therapies to patients." ~ San Diego Union-Tribune, Dec 17
In the early days of IVF, fewer drugs were used. Today's higher doses can produce more eggs and shorter treatment times, but at a cost. About 5% of women experience ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome, which can be quite uncomfortable, and in a handful cases has killed them. The other benefit of IVM is a reduction in the bill for fertility drugs. In Denmark, the cost has fallen from £1,400 to 140 per cycle, says Professor Svend Lindenberg, of the Nordic Fertility Centre in Copenhagen. ~ Guardian, Dec 30 However, Professor Alison Murdoch countered that it was a pro-choice issue: "I believe very firmly in women's choice and if we give these women full info about what the research is about, and about the risks they incur in participating in this research, I think we should take their decision as it stands." The decision by the UK's fertility regulator was also criticised because the licence was granted before a public consultation had been completed. Even Dr Stephen Minger, a leading stem cell researcher from King's College London, was stunned. "Although I support this research, I am flabbergasted that the licence was given before the consultation process was completed. It seems very improper. What is the point in having a consultation?" ~ Scotsman, Dec 22; London Telegraph, Dec 22
|
