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cienceDaily (Nov. 5, 2009) — From their very first days, newborns' cries already bear the mark of the language their parents speak, reveals a new study published online in Current Biology. The findings suggest that infants begin picking up elements of what will be their first language in the womb, and certainly long before their first babble or coo. "The dramatic finding of this study is that not only are human neonates capable of producing different cry melodies, but they prefer to produce those melody patterns that are typical for the ambient language they have heard during their fetal life,...

“No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth!” —President Ronald Reagan Life Legal Defense Foundation continues to watchdog the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine and in doing so found the latest attempt to promulgate embryonic stem cell research by “educating” children. Let us introduce you to Senate Bill 471. Titled “The California Stem Cell and Biotechnology Education and Workforce Development Act of 2009,” the purpose of SB 471 is purportedly to train up a new generation of...

President Obama’s top science adviser said in a book he co-authored in 1973 that a newborn child “will ultimately develop into a human being” if he or she is properly fed and socialized. “The fetus, given the opportunity to develop properly before birth, and given the essential early socializing experiences and sufficient nourishing food during the crucial early years after birth, will ultimately develop into a human being,” John P. Holdren, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, wrote in “Human Ecology: Problems and Solutions.” Holdren co-authored the book with Stanford professors Paul R. Ehrlich and...

“The development of a human being begins with fertilization, a process by which the spermatozoon from the male and the oocyte from the female unite to give rise to a new organism, the zygote.” — Langman’s Medical Embryology, 7th edition, 1995 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- For people who advocate the killing of embryonic human beings in the cause of biomedical research, the Holy Grail is an argument that would definitively establish that the human embryo, at least early in its development, is not a living human organism and therefore not a human being at all. The problem for these advocates is that all...

Bioethics: The former director of the National Institutes of Health, once an enthusiast for embryonic stem cells, now says their future has "dimmed." So why is the administration bailing out research into such therapies while troubled states like California have committed billions?Aside from creating or saving a few research jobs, the administration's decision to federally fund embryonic stem cell research is, as we've noted, a bailout of bad science. It throws money at an avenue of research that time and adult stem cell progress have passed by. Applauding the administration's move was Sen. Arlen Specter, D-Pa., who echoed the claims...

Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday that she considered Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court case that legalized abortion, to be “settled law”...Dr. Charmaine Yoest, president of Americans United for Life, said Roe is “anything but settled law.”“This question of Roe as settled law goes to a central point in the testimony we’ll be providing on Thursday morning: Roe is not settled law,” Yoest said in a statement

VATICAN CITY – Pope Benedict XVI stressed the church's opposition to abortion and stem cell research in his first meeting with President Barack Obama on Friday, pressing the Vatican's case with the U.S. leader who is already under fire on those issues from some conservative Catholics and bishops back home...Afterward, the Vatican said the leaders discussed immigration, the Middle East peace process and aid to developing nations. But the Vatican's statement also underscored the pair's deep disagreement on abortion. "In the course of their cordial exchanges, the conversation turned first of all to questions which are in the interest of...

The most overturned appellate court has teed up another case for the Supreme Court to consider — and likely soon. The 9th Circuit overturned an injunction in a district court case, allowing the state of Washington to force a pharmacy to stock and dispense morning-after pills, which causes the abortion of an embryo in the early days of a pregnancy. The pharmacy owners had objected, claiming that the law violated their religious practice:

This article will clarify a certain dimension of the debate over embryo adoption and lead to the conclusion that a woman who chooses to have an orphaned embryo implanted in her womb (heterologous embryo transfer, which we'll call HET), cannot be morally approved.I have been a leader in the pro-life movement for over 30 years, and no one would more like to see all of the abandoned frozen embryos rescued. The nature of their in vitro conception, subsequent freezing and reduction to so-called "leftovers" constitutes a grave injustice.Many people, motivated by real charity, look to embryo adoption as a way...

div class="noticia_imagen_contenedor" style="width: 290px;"> Washington D.C., May 8, 2009 / 01:46 am (CNA).- The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) on Wednesday launched a campaign to oppose embryonic stem cell research and support ethical cures, encouraging citizens to contact Congress and the National Institutes of Health (NIH).After President Barack Obama’s March 9 executive order permitted federal funding for further embryonic stem cell research, the NIH proposed guidelines to fund research that will require stem cells harvested from the destruction of living human embryos.The draft guidelines are open for public comment through May 26.The USCCB campaign, titled "Oppose Destructive Stem Cell...

By Beezy Marsh and Jo Macfarlane Last updated at 11:04 PM on 25th April 2009 Couples could be allowed to store embryos in order to use them to create new body parts or cure diseases. Government legal and ethical experts are to discuss whether families can ‘bank’ embryos not just for procreation but also for use by doctors to create personalised treatments for parents and their children. Now, embryos – the first stage of life after an egg has been successfully fertilised – can be stored for up to five years but only for procreation. But a huge ethical debate...

div class="noticia_imagen_contenedor" style="width: 250px;"> Bishop Thomas Wenski Orlando, Fla., Mar 16, 2009 / 08:01 pm (CNA).- Bishop of Orlando, Florida Thomas G. Wenski has written an editorial for the Orlando Sentinel stressing the dignity of the human embryo. Noting the ways some medical reproductive technologies “devalue the meaning of human sexuality itself,” he condemned “procreation without sex.”Invoking Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, which he summarized as being about “a mad scientist who in his quest to create life never stopped to consider the consequences of his actions,” Bishop Wenski said that science reality is “stranger than science fiction.”Similarly, he suggested that some...

Washington D.C., Mar 14, 2009 / 02:06 pm (CNA).- Former President Bill Clinton’s recent comments about embryo fertilization and stem cell research have been “confused” and call into question his credibility on the issue, two bioethicists say. The president has made interview remarks incorrectly implying that embryos are not fertilized. Critics also wondered why Dr. Sanjay Gupta, the medical commentator and former Surgeon General nominee who interviewed Clinton, did not correct the former president in their discussion of human embryonic stem cell research. Pro-life advocates around the country have been rallying against President Barack Obama’s March 9 decision to...

A Southern Baptist leader who serves on President Barack Obama's Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships opposes Obama's move to fund embryonic stem-cell research. Rev. Frank Page, a former president of the Southern Baptist Convention, says he told the White House that he is alarmed at Obama's "consistent pattern of removing any pro-life protections." Page says he wonders sometimes if the president is really listening to his advice and says he is conscious of being a Baptist and evangelical voice on the president's advisory council. "I know that I am representing a huge number of people who are deeply concerned,...

On Wednesday, only two days after he lifted President Bush’s executive order banning federal funding of stem cell research that requires the destruction of human embryos, President Barack Obama signed a law that explicilty bans federal funding of any "research in which a human embryo or embryos are destroyed, discarded, or knowingly subjected to risk of injury or death." The provision was buried in the 465-page omnibus appropriations bill that Obama signed Wednesday. Known as the Dickey-Wicker amendment, it has been included in the annual appropriations bill for the Department of Health and Human Services every fiscal year since 1996....

US President Barack Obama will Monday wipe out another contentious aspect of his predecessor George W. Bush's legacy by removing curbs on federal funding for embryonic stem-cell research.Links: (on site) Obama to reverse Bush limits on stem- cell research Stem cell go-ahead puts Obama at odds with pope... Stem cell decision exposes religious divides... So obviously it is an incomprehensible and utterly deplorable concept to harvest human babies for stems cells (unless you are a liberal). My question is, why is the green light being given by Obama do destroy these embryos when the technology is there, or nearly there...

Obama ESCR policy change a ‘slap in the face’ to pro-lifers, critics say President Barack Obama Washington D.C., Mar 9, 2009 / 04:58 pm (CNA).- Catholic and Pro-life leaders have reacted critically to President Barack Obama’s overturning of federal restrictions on embryonic stem cell research, characterizing the policy change as a “slap in the face” to pro-lifers and arguing that scientific advancement should not come by destroying embryonic human life. On Monday, President Obama overturned President George W. Bush’s 2001 executive order which barred funding for any embryonic stem cell research (ESCR) that uses embryonic stem cell lines created after...

Cardinal Rigali: Obama stem cell order 'a sad victory of politics over science and ethics’ Cardinal Justin Rigali Washington D.C., Mar 9, 2009 / 06:27 pm (CNA).- Following President Obama’s latest executive order lifting restrictions on embryonic stem cell research, both Cardinal Justin Rigali and the Colorado bishops released a statement saying that the decision to lift restrictions on embryonic stem cell research shows a disregard for the dignity of human life. Cardinal Rigali, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities, began his statement today by calling Obama’s executive order “a sad victory of politics...

I'm very grateful that President Obama has lifted the restrictions on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research," the former first lady said in a statement. "These new rule will now make it possible for scientists to move forward." "Countless people, suffering from many different diseases, stand to benefit from the answers stem cell research can provide," said Reagan, who has long been at odds with other conservative Republicans over the stem cell issue. "We owe it to ourselves and to our children to do everything in our power to find cures for these diseases -- and soon." Reagan, 87,...

Georgia Takes Action: SB 169 to Protect Human Embryos LAWRENCEVILLE, GA, Mar. 9 /Christian Newswire/ -- While President Obama was signing the executive order that would provide federal funds for destructive Human Embryo research today, the Georgia Senate's Health and Human Services Committee moved SB 169: The Ethical Treatment of Human Embryos Act to the Senate Rules Committee on a 7-6 vote. This bill allows for the advancement of scientific research, while also addressing the important ethical questions related in the ongoing debate about Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research (HESCR). First, it allows for the continuation of research that is...

http://www.zenit.org/article-25260?l=english ZE09030310 - 2009-03-03Permalink: http://www.zenit.org/article-25260?l=englishKids Made-to-Order: Science Gone Awry Bishop Sgreccia Points to Instinct of Manipulation ROME, MARCH 3, 2009 (Zenit.org).- A Los Angeles-based fertility clinic offering would-be parents a child made-to-order -- complete with the desired skin tone or hair color -- is an example of science when it is not put at the service of the good, says Bishop Elio Sgreccia.The retired president of the Pontifical Academy for Life spoke to Vatican Radio today about an offer from The Fertility Institutes, to give would-be parents the physical traits they want in their child -- green eyes, for example,...

Preliminary Remarks about the Concept of Information by Dr. Werner Gitt February 26, 2009 By way of introduction, we shall consider a few systems and repeatedly ask the question: What is the reason that such a system can function? 1. The web of a spider: In Figure 1 we see a section of a web of a spider, a Cyrtophora in this case. The mesh size is approximately 0.8 x 1.2 mm. The circle in the left picture indicates the part which has been highly magnified by an electron microscope to provide the right picture. The design and structure of...

The Southern California mother of octuplets was implanted with embryos at a Beverly Hills fertility clinic run by a well-known — and controversial — specialist who pioneered a method for helping women conceive. Dr. Michael Kamrava's name emerged Monday as a result of an interview aired Monday on NBC with Nadya Suleman, who gave birth to eight babies Jan. 26. Over the past two weeks, the identity of Suleman's fertility doctor has been a source of great mystery because of questions over the ethics of implanting numerous embryos in a woman who already had six children. Kamrava, 57, did not...

...The fossilized embryos shatter some ideas about evolution. Not only have certain cellular processes been pushed way back in time, but also there does not appear to be any evolution seen in these embryos, since many cellular processes, including some modern features, go clear back to the beginning of the fossil record. These embryos demonstrate that complex metazoans have been around since at least the Neoproterozoic and that from an evolutionary point of view their origins go back even further. Thus, the origin of animals is firmly based on nothing, and a huge evolutionary mystery: ‘The origin of animals is...

(CNN) -- Federal regulators have cleared the way for the first human trials of human embryonic stem-cell research, authorizing researchers to test whether the cells are safe to use in spinal injury patients, the company behind the trials announced Friday. The tests could begin by summer, said Dr. Thomas Okarma, president and CEO of the Geron Corporation. The Food and Drug Administration has approved the trials, which will use human stem cells authorized for research by then-President George W. Bush in 2001. The patients will be those with the most severe spinal cord injuries, called complete spinal cord injuries. "A...

The first British baby genetically selected to be free of a gene linked to breast cancer has been born, doctors have revealed. She was screened as an embryo to ensure the absence of the BRCA 1 gene, which passes the risk of breast cancer down the generations. University College London said the mother and her infant were doing “very well”.

Any Obama Decision to Fund Embryonic Stem Cells Goes Against Best Scienceby Helen M. Alvaré January 8, 2009LifeNews.com Note: Helen Alvare is a professor at George Mason University School of Law and she has her J.D. from Cornell University. joining the faculty at George Mason, Professor Alvare was an associate professor at Catholic University of America-Columbus School of Law. Since 1987 she has worked at the National Conference of Catholic Bishops as an attorney and pro-life spokeswoman. This article originally appeared in the publication of the Culture of Life Foundation. Email RSSPrint Incoming President Barack Obama’s strenuous support for...

Regarding the Instruction Dignitas PersonaeAim In recent years, biomedical research has made great strides, opening new possibilities for the treatment of disease, but also giving rise to serious questions which had not been directly treated in the Instruction Donum vitae (22 February 1987).  A new Instruction, which is dated 8 September 2008, the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, seeks to provide some responses to these new bioethical questions, as these have been the focus of expectations and concerns in large sectors of society.  In this way, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith seeks both...

The Dignity of the Embryo Archbishop Salvatore Fisichella, spoke today in Rome with Register correspondent Edward Pentin about Dignitas Personae, the VaticanÂ’s new bioethics document. Archbishop Fisichella, who is president of the Pontifical Academy for Life, discussed some of the U.S. implications of the new document, and the focus it places on the dignity of the human embryo. HereÂ’s what he told the Register: How would you like this document to be received in the United States?Archbishop Salvatore Fisichella: I think that the document which talks about life and the dignity of the human person will be received in a...

Almost anyone with a high school education can correctly answer the question “When does human life begin?” by responding “at conception” or at “fertilization” of a human egg by a sperm cell. While we may not understand, or only vaguely recall, the precise process by which an egg and sperm combine to create a new unique human being, this basic truth about human life falls into the category of things we can’t not know. Yet today, many educated people who do know better assert that human life begins at some later stage of development.They arbitrarily push forward the starting point...

Test could be ready as early next year Couples can have healthy kids via IVF Critic says thousands of embryos would be needed BRITISH researchers have developed a revolutionary test that will let prospective parents screen embryos for almost any known genetic disease.The £1500 ($3630) test, which should be available as early as next year, will allow couples at risk of passing on gene defects to conceive healthy children using IVF treatment, The Times reports.Unlike current tests it takes just weeks from start to finish and is suitable for couples at risk of almost any condition.At present only 2...

At a certain point, even radical eugenicists have to realize there's something wrong with creating frankenbabies in labs, only to kill them when they become a nuisance to the convenience of the bourgeiosie:The Oregon Court of Appeals on Wednesday denied a father's appeal to keep his six frozen embryos alive, and ordered that the embryos be destroyed by thawing, as ordered by his ex-wife. The court also ruled that the embryos' fate fell under the issue of "property rights." The court unanimously agreed that the father, orthodontist Dr. Darrell Angle, had no right to "impose a genetic parental relationship"...

The Australian government has issued its first license allowing scientists to create cloned human embryos to try and obtain embryonic stem cells. The in vitro-fertilization firm Sydney IVF was granted the license and reportedly has access to 7,200 human eggs for its research. If the firm is successful it would be a world first, the Australian government's National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), which granted the license, said on Wednesday. Scientists in other countries have made stem cells they believe are similar to embryonic cells using a variety of techniques, but none have been able to extract embryonic stem...

LONDON: Frozen embryos are better than fresh when it comes to producing healthier babies using in-vitro fertilisation, a new study has revealed. Researchers in Denmark have found that babies born from thawed embryos were heavier at birth and were unlikely to suffer abnormalities as compared to those born from fresh embryos. “Only very top-quality embryos survive the freezing and thawing process. And you only get pregnancies in patients with lots of good embryos to freeze,” lead researcher Dr Anja Pinborg was quoted by The Daily Telegraph as saying. The researchers at Copenhagen University reached the conclusion after comparing over...

Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick signed a $1 billion embryonic stem cell research bill on Monday. The measure is meant to provide the controversial research with more taxpayer money after President Bush refused to force taxpayers to fund the destruction of human life. Patrick pushed the plan through the state legislature to force the state's taxpayers to fund embryonic stem cell research to the tune of $1 billion over 10 years.He said he wanted the northeastern state to keep up with others like California, Illinois, and neighboring Connecticut, which have publicly funded the grisly research.   Under his plan, the state would...

The US bishops have issued a very clear statement on embryonic stem cell research. It does not dwell upon the scientific nuances of the issue, but rather assists the reader to focus on the moral issues involved. The statement is not marked by condemnation, but rather by explanation. It is not a rejection of research or of those who stand to benefit from research, but rather a call to pursue the well being of those very individuals by preserving the moral standards that protect their dignity and that of the rest of us. The statement reminds us that there is...

An armored fish was about to become a mom some 380 million years ago. Though the primitive fish perished, its fossilized remains remarkably reveal an embryo and umbilical cord inside the soon-to-be mother's body. The discovery marks the oldest evidence of an animal giving live birth, pushing the known record of such reproduction back by some 200 million years. It also supports the idea that internal fertilization in vertebrates (animals with backbones) originated in a group of primitive fish. "When I first saw the embryo inside the mother fish, my jaw dropped," said researcher John Long, a paleontologist at Museum...

Lord Patel of Dunkeld, chairman of the UK National Stem Cell Network and chancellor of Dundee University, told the Scotsman earlier this week that research involving stem cells would likely lead to therapies, but that ultimately such treatments could prove too risky for human use. He also said it could be five to ten years before viable stem cell treatments were available. But even then, he observed, "We have to be cautious. It may not deliver therapy for anything. We may find that stem therapy is quite a risky business." In terms of the efficacy of stem cell cures, Lord...

They may look like any three-day-old embryos, but in fact these are hybrids Scientists at Newcastle University have created part-human, part-animal hybrid embryos for the first time in the UK, the BBC can reveal. The embryos survived for up to three days and are part of medical research into a range of illnesses. It comes a month before MPs are to debate the future of such research. The Catholic Church describes it as "monstrous". But medical bodies and patient groups say such research is vital for our understanding of disease. They argue that the work could pave the way...

Edward Heath once asked "Who governs Britain?" Some Labour MPs are now asking themselves the same question. Gordon Brown grants free vote on embryosSome are arguing the Catholic Church seems to hold inordinate sway following Gordon Brown's climbdown over granting a free vote over the morally contentious clauses in the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill. advertisement The Prime Minister has spent weeks telling MPs the Bill will not be granted a free, conscience vote. He warned it was a Government Bill, a key plank of Labour's legislative programme and therefore Labour MPs and ministers would not be allowed to vote...

Hybrids are made using an animal egg mixed with human genes Leading charities have written to every MP urging them to support the controversial embryo research bill, the BBC has learned. Cancer Research and the British Heart Foundation are among more than 200 charities in favour of the creation of human-animal hybrids for research. The prime minister is facing dissent over the bill, from some of his Labour MPs and leading Catholic clergy. But Health Secretary Alan Johnson said an "accommodation" would be found. The letter, written by the Association of Medical Research Charities, says although there are ethical...

For procreation, it has always taken two to tango. But scientists from the UK's Newcastle University have taken reproductive biology where it has never gone before - creating a human embryo from three parents, two women and a man. The scientists believe the technique will help prevent women with diseases of the mitochondria - tiny batteries within each cell that provide energy - from passing on the defects to their children. Mitochodrial DNA is carried from mother to offspring and faults in it can cause about 50 known diseases, some of which lead to disability and death. Researchers from Newcastle...

Mike Huck : the only Value-oriented Conservative able to win Hillary or Obama ? After Brownback, Dunkan and Thomson withdrew, to be soon followed by Paul, while Romney stil doesn't convince the People, Guliani thanks God appears lost, and McCain a too old Liberal, => Governor Mike HUCKABEE obviously remains the only real Conservative, Value-oriented Presidential hopeful able to win against Liberal Dems like Hillary or Obama. He's also the Youngest of all 2008 GOP candidates, and could be able to run also on 2012. The most important thing is that Huck attracts the Voters mainly motivated by Values :...

The Vatican on Friday condemned the cloning of human embryos, calling it the "worst type of exploitation of the human being.""This ranks among the most morally illicit acts, ethically speaking," said Monsignor Elio Sgreccia, president of the Pontifical Academy for Life, the Vatican department that helps oversee the Church's position on bioethics issues,.A U.S. company said on Thursday it used cloning technology to make five human embryos, with the eventual hope of making matched stem cells for patients.If verified, the team at Stemagen Corp., would be the first to prove they have cloned human beings as a source of stem...

NEW ORLEANS - Once a frozen embryo threatened by Hurricane Katrina, little Noah Markham - named for the survivor of the biblical flood-of-all-floods - celebrated his first birthday Wednesday. His birth - which attracted cameras and reporters within an hour - is still a story his parents find themselves telling frequently. "My neighbor proclaims it every time we go somewhere: 'Did you see this little baby on the news?'" his mother, Rebekah Markham said. She and her husband, Glen, a New Orleans police officer, planned a small family gathering Wednesday evening to mark the anniversary of Noah's arrival, which made...

US 2008 : Unfair slander against Governor Huckabees' Winning Values ?! Unfair slander against US 2008 Election hopeful, Governor Mike Huckabee's winning Moral Values, can only stimulate the astonishing Popular support he succeeded to attract, particularly when People will realize the Truth on main facts : It's undeniable that an undemocratic part of an old Establishment (including remnants from 10 Years of Clinton Administration) was so surprised by the sudden Breakthrough Mike Huckabee managed to create recently, that it started to reveal a treacherous face, made of Censorship, abusive exploitation of provoked False impressions, or Slander... Even "Yahoo"'s Web portal,...

On August 9, 2001, President Bush announced a compromise decision on the contentious question of whether the federal government should provide financial support for research into the curative properties of human stem cells extracted from embryos. Bush’s compromise allowed funding for research into embryonic stem cells that had already been harvested. At the same time, he disallowed funding for procedures that would collect stem cells from frozen (but still living) embryos, since doing so would require their destruction. In the case of those already collected, he said, “The life-or-death decision has already been made.” But that life-or-death decision would not...

Plans for an embryonic stem-cell bank at the University of Massachusetts Medical School for researchers around the globe took a major step forward last week when the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center authorized more than $8 million for the bank and an associated registry. It is a significant step in Central Massachusetts’ evolution as a major center of biotechnology and biomedical research. Interim chancellor Michael F. Collins said the bank should be operating within eight to 12 months, the registry even sooner than that. That is in keeping with the fast pace at which Gov. Deval L. Patrick’s life sciences and...

U.S. Catholic Health Association Giving Flawed Advice on Morning After Pill to Catholic Hospitals Commentary republished with permission by Matt Bowman of Alliance Defense FundExcerpted from http://www.constitutionallycorrect.com/archive/2007/10/03/553.aspx WASHINGTON, DC, October 3, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Connecticut Catholic hospitals' spokesman Barry Feldman, in statements discussing the new policy allowing emergency contraception for rape victims even though embryos might not implant as a result, listed the Catholic Health Association as support for the new policy. The position of the Catholic Health Association on "emergency contraception" is well known and seriously flawed.  It basically presents "emergency contraception" as permissible even after a positive ovulation...

Michigan Bishops Launch Massive Statewide Stem Cell Education Program - Video Online 12 minute DVD and other material being sent to over 500,000 Catholic homes and nearly 800 parishes LANSING, October 3, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - In an effort to communicate the Catholic Church's teaching on human life as it relates to adult and embryonic stem cell research, the Michigan Catholic Conference on Monday announced the state's seven diocesan bishops have launched a monumental internal education program that includes over 500,000 Catholic homes and nearly 800 parishes. As part of the internal education program, which has the theme "The Science of...