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| October 31, 2008 |
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by Jesse Reynolds
The governance of California's $3 billion stem cell research program will finally face some long-overdue scrutiny. A state governmental reform commission will examine the CIRM's "governance and transparency." The Little Hoover Commission is a bipartisan standing advisory body that "promotes efficiency and effectiveness in state programs." |
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by Pete Shanks
Glenn McGee "has turned his Bioethics Education Network LLC [BENE] into a for-profit operation." Is there a significant difference between "behaving more and more like for-profit companies" and actually being one? At what point does profitability become a problem? Is McGee crossing an ethical line here?
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by Osagie K. Obasogie
Just three years ago, NitroMed (makers of BiDil, the first FDA-approved race specific medicine) was heralded as a promising pharmaceutical company with a business model for BiDil that led some analysts to predict sales of between $500 million and $1 billion by 2010. Yet, BiDil’s fortunes have swung drastically in the other direction. What does NitroMed’s slow but steady demise mean for future endeavors into race based medicine?
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by Pete Shanks
Proposals for compulsory sterilization have just been made in three different jurisdictions in the U.S. and Canada. Some struggles are never completely over.
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by Jesse Reynolds
Obama doesn't need to accuse McCain of opposing embryonic stem cell research, when in fact McCain has voted for it repeatedly. The Democratic campaign merely needs to put its opponent on the spot for his recent wavering on whether he would, if elected, actually lift the restrictions on the federal funding of embryonic stem cell research.
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by Osagie K. Obasogie
Journal of Law, Medicine, and Ethics
Given the vigorous and unsettled debate concerning the genetic relevance of race, the state has a strong interest in approving the use of race-specific indications only when they are used cautiously, are supported by robust scientific studies, and are not simply used as a convenient proxy.
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CGS News
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CGS on FaceBook and YouTube |
The new CGS YouTube Channel and CGS FaceBook page are now online. You can post on our wall, become a friend or a fan, subscribe, exchange updates, see videos, share channels and more. Please check these out!
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New CGS Publication: Weekly News Updates |
Want to keep on top of the latest developments in biopolitics and human biotechnologies on a weekly basis? The Center for Genetics and Society is now offering Weekly News Updates, which will include headlines and brief summaries of the top stories of the week from publications around the world, with links to them. Subscribe here.
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CGS and Generations Ahead at Facing Race Conference |
CGS Senior Fellow and Hastings Law School Associate Professor Osagie Obasogie and Generations Ahead’s Truc Nguyen will speak about DNA Databases: Impacts for Racial Justice at the Facing Race National Conference, November 13-15 in Oakland, California. |
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The Latest from Biopolitical Times
by Marcy Darnovsky
A key civil society advocate debates a synthetic biology pioneer about "genetic engineering on steroids" - building artificial life from scratch.
by Jesse Reynolds
For the fourth time in five years, there's an embryonic stem cell research (ESCR) initiative on a state ballot.
by Osagie K. Obasogie
Falling prices and celebrity endorsements are likely to be trends that are here to stay for the personal genomics industry. |
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by Jenna Burton
A bipartisan bill will provide comprehensive information and support to pregnant women and new mothers whose fetus or newborn is diagnosed with a disability.
by Pete Shanks
The relaunch of the World Transhumanist Association, now Humanity Plus, stumbles on, with the launch of H+ Magazine.
by Osagie Obasogie
In the midst of heated campaigns regarding a Michigan state ballot measure on whether the state should allow researchers to derive embryonic stem cells from leftover IVF embryos, PhRMA seems to have entered the fray. |
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Bipartisan bill passes both houses of Congress overwhelmingly and signed into law by President Bush on Oct 8. |
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by Pete Shanks
An estimate of how many leftover embryos might become available for research annually is surprisingly low.
by Marcy Darnovsky
Donating unused embryos, and minimizing conflicts of interest between fertility doctors and stem cell researchers.
by Jesse Reynolds
A bill to overturn restrictions on the federal funding of human embryonic stem cell research has been introduced. Why introduce a bill that has no real chance of becoming law?
by Jesse Reynolds
The details of Australia's process for licensing cloning-based stem cell research are reassuring, particularly relative to the US, where the oversight remains remarkably inadequate. |
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Other News
by Rob Stein, Washington Post
Powerful new DNA tests screen fetuses for a wider range of genetic abnormalities. They have triggered complaints that they mark another step toward a society that seeks to weed out aberrations in the quest for the perfect child.
by Solomon Moore, New York Times
Local and state law enforcement agencies have made uneven progress in reducing a nationwide backlog of cases awaiting DNA analysis over the past four years, according to reports filed by more than 100 agencies with the National Institute of Justice.
Associated Press
Plans to allow scientists to use hybrid animal-human embryos for stem cell research won final approval from lawmakers. |
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by Amy Harmon, New York Times
The Personal Genome Project, a study at Harvard University Medical School aimed at challenging the conventional wisdom that the secrets of our genes are best kept to ourselves, hopes to expand its base from 10 to 100,000 participants.
by Toni Clarke, Reuters UK
The biotechnology sector looks likely to be hit by a wave of bankruptcies and failures as small companies find themselves out of funding and out of options.
by Sandy Kleffman, MediaNews
Four years after California residents captured worldwide attention by voting to spend $3 billion on stem cell research, many of the anticipated new therapies are at least 10 years away and numerous hurdles must be overcome. |
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Reuters
Japanese researchers who invented a way to make powerful stem cells out of ordinary cells say they have now found a safer way to do it.
by Andrew Pollack, New York Times
The cost of determining a person’s complete genetic blueprint is about to plummet again — to $5,000.
by Malathy Iyer, Times of India
The Indian government has unveiled a bill to regulate assisted reproduction, including surrogacy.
by Rachel Lehmann-Haupt, MSN Money
New reproductive technologies are giving would-be parents more options — if they can cough up enough money. One day, some experts say, parents might be able to order blue-eyed, academically inclined, cancer-free kids. |
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