Recently in In the news Category

Recent articles directly or vaguely related to my areas of interest. It's been a while since I did one of these, so I have lots of links to share. Today's post focuses on articles about pregnancy, prenatal genetics, and reproductive technologies.

• Anti-shackling bill passes unanimously in [Florida] state Senate – The Florida Independent
  “A bill that would create uniform and humane rules for the shackling of incarcerated pregnant women passed the state Senate unanimously today.”


• Unnatural selection: Is evolving reproductive technology ushering in a new age of eugenics? – The Globe and Mail
  “‘There's no doubt that this area is a slippery slope,’ Dr. Tan says. ‘But at the end of the day, this technology evolves in pace with society's values.’”


• Baby monkeys have cells from up to six parents – Discover Magazine
  “They are the first non-mouse chimeras--creatures made up of cells from multiple other parents--to be created by science.”


• Scientists grow sperm in laboratory dish – The Telegraph
  “The development opens up the possibility of infertile men being able to father their own children rather than using donor sperm.”


• How a “designer baby” might just work – Discover Magazine
  “The ultimate logic here is to select for zygotes or gametes which are biased toward the grandparents with phenotypic values which you are interested in.”


• Would you have your fetus genetically tested? – Discover Magazine
  “The biggest surprise for me is that there wasn't much difference between the 1990s and 2004.”


• Uterine transplants: a new frontier in science – Indy Star
  “Right now the thinking is that transplants would be reserved for people who lack a uterus altogether, rather than including women who have a womb but cannot conceive.”


• Study finds doctors shouldn't transfer 3 or more embryos into women having IVF at any age – Center for Genetics and Society
  “Grifo said the fact many Americans pay for their treatment out of pocket makes a big difference. ‘I spend a lot of time trying to talk patients out of the three-embryo transfer and you can't always do it,’ he said. ”

Recent articles directly or vaguely related to my areas of interest. It's been a while since I did one of these, so I have lots of links to share. Today's post focuses on articles about animals, animal rights, and the human-animal boundary.

• Chimpanzees seem to know what's on other chimps' minds – The Guardian
  “Crockford said the findings suggest humans are not alone in knowing the minds of others, an ability that may have been pivotal in the evolution of language as it allowed humans to share information and boost collective knowledge.”
• Orangutans to Skype between zoos with iPads – ExtremeTech
  “So far their favorite iPad pastimes have been games like Doodle Buddy and Flick Flick Football, and watching videos.”
• Smart chimpanzee starts fire with lighter and puts out fire – YouTube
• The legendary Jane Goodall on chimps, feminism and saving the planet – Green Global Travel
  “I think if I had been male, I wouldn't have been pushing these anthropomorphic ideas. I was told I shouldn't have given the chimps names, that it is more scientific to number them, and that you shouldn't talk about their personalities, their minds, or their feelings because those are attributes of our own species. Fortunately, I was able to think back to the wonderful teacher I had as a child who taught me that animals do have personalities, minds, and feelings, and that was my dog Rusty.”
• Sometimes Francis Collins does something right – ScienceBlogs
  “The NIH, led by Dr. Collins, has recently accepted a recommendation from the National Institute of Medicine that future chimpanzee research funding shall be suspended, and that exceedingly strict guidelines are to be imposed.”
• A new guinea pig law in Switzerland – The New York Times
  “Switzerland has been tightening its animal-welfare laws, and because guinea pigs are prone to loneliness, it's now illegal to own just one.”
• Clyven, the world's first transgenic mouse with human intelligence (fake/art)
  “Chat with Clyven Online”

Recent articles directly or vaguely related to my areas of interest.

• Hwang Clones Coyotes, Scores Headlines—Biopolitical Times
• EU court: No patents for some stem cell techniques—Bloomberg Businessweek
• Fetal gene screening comes to market—Nature
• Push for 'Personhood' Amendment Represents New Tack in Abortion Fight—The New York Times
• Surrogate mother left with huge bill; babies in Austria—KUSA-TV
• Is Less Reading Making Americans Less Empathetic?—GOOD
• The quest for the perfect baby—Haaretz
• Bringing Up Baby: The Desperate Housewives' Guide to TVs Childbearing Tropes—Bitch
• First test of human embryonic stem cell therapy in people discontinued—The Washington Post
• Postponing motherhood places too much faith in reproductive science: Experts—The Montreal Gazette
• Fetus donates stem cells to heal mother's heart—NewScientist
• A Multiverse of Exploration: The Future of Science 2021—Institute For The Future
• Are we the teachable species?—Discover Magazine

Recent articles directly or vaguely related to my areas of interest.

• For the Love of Science Fiction: Margaret Atwood's In Other Worlds: SF and the Human Imagination—Slate
• Peter Gronquist, “The Evolution Will Be Fabulous”—taxidermy art incorporating couture, firearms, and more.
• One Man Fathering 150 Children? Why Sperm Banks May Be Unethical—AlterNet
• A Campaign to Allow a Market in Women's Eggs for a New Kind of Cloning Research—Biopolitical Times
• Protecting the Rights of Surrogate Mothers in India—The New York Times
• Surrogate Mothers in India—PBS
• High-interest clones—Nature
• DES daughters face heightened risks—Star Tribune
• Inaccuracies in fiction: when is reshaping fact appropriate?—Scientific American

Recent articles directly or vaguely related to my areas of interest.

• Why scientists should read science fiction – Scientific American
• Hidden killers [embryonic cannibalism in sandtiger sharks] – Life Lines/ScienceBlogs
• Being human is important because we're human – Gene Expression/Discover Magazine
• Junk DNA gave us the modern uterus, in a giant genetic cut-and-paste operation – 80beats/Discover Magazine
• We can now safely sequence a fetus' genome. Is the world ready for this? – Discover Magazine
• Growing meat in the lab: scientists initiate action plan to advance cultured meat – ScienceDaily

Recent articles directly or vaguely related to my areas of interest.

• One sperm donor, 150 offspring—The New York Times
• Sperm Donor Siblings: Family Trees, Invisible Roots—Biopolitical Times
• Cats as Experimental Animals for Human Diseases—Biopolitical Times
• New rules urged on hybrid animal-human experiments—Reuters