In a small, quiet hospital in Beijing, China, a doctor injects cultivated nasal stem cells from aborted Chinese fetuses and brings near-miraculous improvements in hundreds of people with conditions U.S. scientists have dubbed hopeless. “Uncontrolled” by western medical standards, “unethical” by U.S. mores, controversial by everybody’s assessment, the operations are nevertheless being sought after by … Continue reading Chinese fetal stem cell use commands attention →

The S.F. Mayor is calling a special conference to discuss stem cell research, and he’s timing it to coincide with the pre-election hoopla that will include Proposition 71. “Proposition 71 on the upcoming November ballot is the biggest attempt by a U.S. state to create a massive medical research effort,” according to this article in … Continue reading San Francisco mayor uses marketing to vie for bioscience money →

The debate has been academic for many years. Now, with the soaring rate of in vitro fertilization (100,000 in the US alone), the number of unused embryos is growing–and the space to store them is shrinking. The American Society for Reproductive Medicine earlier this year set a policy saying that it was okay to dispose … Continue reading Ethical questions grow louder – what about abandoned IVF embryos? →

You know, I gotta tell you that to see this sort of statement, “relatively high-functioning community-dwelling women (mean age 66.3 years)” is astonishing. There must be a lot of people out there who are very different from the people I know who are in their 60s to even occasion the use of the phrase “relatively … Continue reading Change your language–and maybe change your world →

Neurology This article talks about a new approach for treating obesity. When I read this my ears perked up. Leptin triggers production of the active form of a peptide – áMSH – in the hypothalamus (controls hunger and metabolism). Researchers say this peptide, or small protein, is a powerful messenger that tells the brain to … Continue reading Obesity treatment news–and a question →