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Celine Dion is pregnant with an embryo that was frozen for eight years, her fertility doctor revealed.The singer has revealed she is expecting her second child with husband Rene Angelil - a little brother or sister for the couple's eight-year-old son Rene-Charles.And fertility specialist Dr. Zev Rosenwaks has revealed he implanted an embryo in the 41 year old's womb that had been frozen in liquid nitrogen since the in vitro fertilization that helped her conceive Rene-Charles.

After years spent hunting for the buried remains of prehistoric animals, a Canadian paleontologist now plans to manipulate chicken embryos to show he can create a dinosaur. Hans Larsson, the Canada Research Chair in Macro Evolution at Montreal's McGill University, said he aims to develop dinosaur traits that disappeared millions of years ago in birds. Larsson believes by flipping certain genetic levers during a chicken embryo's development, he can reproduce the dinosaur anatomy, he told AFP in an interview. Though still in its infancy, the research could eventually lead to hatching live prehistoric animals, but Larsson said there are no...

Sam Casey / Dr. David Stevens Washington D.C., Aug 21, 2009 / 06:20 am (CNA).- A federal lawsuit seeking to overturn the National Institutes of Health (NIH) guidelines for public funding of human embryonic stem cell research was filed on Wednesday. The suit claims the regulations violate a federal law which bars the institute from funding research in which human embryos are destroyed.Plaintiffs in the suit include the Christian Medical Association (CMA) and embryo adoption agency Nightlight Christian Adoptions.  Dr. James L. Sherley, a senior scientist at the Boston Biomedical Research Institute and Dr. Theresa Deisher, founder of AVM...

When General Electric Co. subsidiary GE Healthcare recently unveiled its plan to use human embryonic stem cells in its drug trials, the company proudly touted one of the plan's potential benefits: Using stem cells derived from the destruction of human embryos may make the experiments on rats unnecessary. "This could replace, to a large extent, animal trials," Konstantin Fiedler of GE Healthcare told a reporter, according to Reuters news agency. "Once you have human cells and you can get them in a standardized way, like you get right now your lab rats in a standardized way, you can actually do...

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...

London, England, Jul 11, 2009 / 04:09 am (CNA).- GE Healthcare has formed a biotech partnership to develop products based on human embryonic stem cells in hopes that their use will replace lab rats in drug development and toxic drug tests.The British-based medical research subsidiary of General Electric, GE Healthcare on June 30 announced a multi-year alliance with Geron Corporation to have Geron provide GE scientists with an undisclosed amount of human embryonic stem cells.According to CNSNews.com, GE Healthcare has said it hopes testing which uses human embryonic cells will spare lab rats from potentially toxic drug evaluations."This could...

Genetic 'MoT' for disease free babies A “genetic MOT” which can help IVF couples screen embryos for hereditary diseases and have healthy babies could be available in the UK within a year. Kate Devlin, Medical Correspondent in Amsterdam 30 Jun 2009 Doctors deny they are 'Frankensteins' bent on creating designer babies. The technique, known as karyomapping, has the potential to spot virtually any inherited genetic disease. It can also pick up chromosomal problems that might lead to Down’s syndrome or prevent pregnancy. Scientific trials are set to begin on the groundbreaking technique, which has been developed by British researchers and...

Science: The president's Council on Bioethics is summarily dismissed when it disagrees on the need for more federally funded embryonic stem cell research. The scientific method doesn't include firing those who disagree with you.Inspectors general are apparently not the only ones to pay for annoying the White House by doing their job. The 18-member council existed to provide the president with advice on the moral and ethical implications of the rapid advances in science and medical research. It exists no more. The council existed to ponder whether we should do something just because we can. Apparently President Obama wanted not...

Red Kangaroo: Embryo Outside the Womb?

ATLANTA -- By a vote of 108 to 61, the Georgia House sent the nation's first ever embryo adoption bill, HB 388, to the desk of Governor Sonny Perdue for him to sign into law. "We are pleased that we are making headway in our goal of establishing personhood for the pre-born" says Daniel Becker, President of Georgia Right to Life. "Gone are the terms designating the human child at an embryonic stage as property ... devoid of rights." says Becker. The language of the bill stops short of declaring full personhood for the child but does introduce new terms...

ProTip: Embryos are *already* fertilized, Mr. President. SRSLY. Google it. Imagine the mainstream media reaction if Sarah Palin or George W. Bush (or any Republican, for that matter) had said something this completely clueless.

Isn't it ironic? 150 years ago, B. Hussein Obama would have been defined as "less than human" by the Democrat party. Today, with the stroke of a pen and to the cheers of most of the Democrat party, he chose to define human embryos as LESS than human, worthy of destruction for the pleasure and profit of men who would use them to get money. Anyone else find that sad?

Obama to Sign Executive Order Monday Opening Public Funding of Embryonic Stem Cell Research http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/mar/09030611.html By John-Henry Westen WASHINGTON, March 6, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - President Barack Obama plans to rescind the Bush policy limiting federal funding for embryo destructive research on Monday. The Bush policy had allowed federal funding for experiments on already existing lines of embryos, but forbade the funds from being used to create new embryos for experimentation. According to news reports, a signing ceremony will take place on Monday at 11 am. Details about the Executive Order are not available, but according to the Washington Post, "proponents...

Federal regulators have green-lighted the first trial of an embryonic stem-cell treatment in humans. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gave the go-ahead for Geron Corporation to start a phase I safety trial of its therapy GRNOPC1 for spinal cord injuries, the Menlo Park, Calif.–based company announced today. It first sought permission for the trial four years ago and spent much of the last year trying to satisfy the FDA’s concerns about it. "This marks the beginning of what is potentially a new chapter in medical therapeutics—one that reaches beyond pills to a new level of healing: the restoration...

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 European Union’s patent office has rejected a patent on the grounds that the application would involve the destruction of human embryos...

Cardinal Keith O'Brien of Edinburgh, Scotland, has continued his energetic campaign against passage of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology (HFE) bill, with an open letter to Prime Minister Gordon Brown in which the cardinal compares the provisions of the HFE legislation to Nazi genetic policies.

London, Oct 24, 2008 / 04:45 am (CNA).- In what one pro-life leader called a “deadly day in the history of Britain,” the House of Commons on Wednesday approved legislation allowing scientists to create animal-human hybrids for medical research. The bill also allows the creation of “savior siblings” genetically matched to sick siblings and eases access to in-vitro fertilization (IVF) for lesbians and single women by eliminating requirements for clinics to consider a child’s need for a father.The Human Embryology and Fertilization Bill passed by 355 votes to 129, Agence France Presse reports. The bill now heads to the House...

Cells taken from men's testicles seem as versatile as the stem cells derived from embryos, researchers reported Wednesday in what may be yet another new approach in a burgeoning scientific field. The new type of stem cells could be useful for growing personalized replacement tissues, according to a study in Thursday's issue of the journal Nature. But because of their source, their highest promise would apply to slightly less than half the world's population: men. Stem cells can give rise to virtually any tissue in the body and scientists believe they may offer treatments for diseases like Parkinson's and diabetes...

WASHINGTON – Cells taken from men's testicles seem as versatile as the stem cells derived from embryos, researchers reported Wednesday in what may be yet another new approach in a burgeoning scientific field. The new type of stem cells could be useful for growing personalized replacement tissues, according to a study in Thursday's issue of the journal Nature. But because of their source, their highest promise would apply to only half the world's population: men. Embryonic stem cells can give rise to virtually any tissue in the body and scientists believe they may offer treatments for diseases like Parkinson's and...

-"As president, John McCain will strongly support funding for promising research programs, including amniotic fluid and adult stem cell research and other types of scientific study that do not involve the use of human embryos". - www.johnmccain.com

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...

How America came to accept using human embryos for research In the ten years since Dr. James Thomson at the University of Madison first procured human embryonic stem cells (hESCs), support for the prospect of using human embryos and fetuses for research purposes has gradually seeped into the American mindset to the point at which it is now broadly tolerated, if not openly endorsed, especially in the political arena, in academia, and certainly within the scientific community. [1] As we continue to advance as a nation into the age of developmental biology there is reason to fear that Americans are...

AUSTRALIA'S first licences to clone human embryos could be granted as early as this week. A National Health and Medical Research Council panel met in Canberra on Friday to consider applications from two separate research groups. The green light for the controversial science could lead to a cure for such afflictions as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Huntington's diseases and type 1 diabetes in less than 10 years. A Monash University team and another based at the Melbourne lab of the Australian Stem Cell Centre have each partnered with Sydney IVF to submit licence requests. The teams want permission to create cloned...

The Times of London May 19, 2008 MPs back creation of human-animal embryos The amendment to ban all admixed embryos was defeated by 336 votes to 176. The prohibition on true hybrids was defeated by 286 votes to 223 Mark Henderson and Francis Elliott British scientists will be allowed to research devastating diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s using human-animal embryos, after the House of Commons tonight rejected a ban. An amendment to the Human Fertilization and Embryology Bill that would have outlawed the creation of “human admixed embryos” for medical research was defeated in a free vote by a...

MPs have voted to allow the creation of "frankenstein" embyros for research into tackling diseases. In the first of a series of free votes on the most controversial aspects of the Human Fertility and Embryology Bill, 336 MPs voted against the amendment to ban all use of human-animal embryos. Gordon Brown had encouraged members of all parties to halt the amendment and Tory leader David Cameron also voted against it.

Gordon Brown backs animal-human hybrids By Subhajit Banerjee and agencies Last Updated: 2:31PM BST 18/05/2008   Gordon Brown today strongly defended the medical use of animal-human hybrid embryos, ahead of a key Commons vote on the issue. The Prime Minister said that stem cell research was an "inherently moral endeavour" and a "profound opportunity" to save and transform millions of lives. "Britain is at the forefront of this research and responsible for much of the worldwide progress," he wrote in The Observer newspaper. The premier supports scientists who want to insert the nuclei of human cells into animal eggs,...

Transplanting brain cells produced from human embryonic stem cells helped fix stroke damage in the brains of rats, according to scientists who hope to test the same thing in people within about five years. Researchers have been looking for ways to repair the brain damage from a stroke, which can cause permanent disability. In a study published on Tuesday, researchers at Stanford University School of Medicine in California reported that treatment involving human embryonic stem cells may be a solution. The transplanted cells helped repair the stroke damage and enabled the rats to recover lost function in front legs weakened...

LONDON, January 2, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Following a UK Parliamentary question, data from a government organization showed that over one million human embryonic children were killed in the UK in the past 14 years as 'waste' embryos from in vitro fertilization (IVF) processes. The acquired data showed that 2,137,924 embryonic humans were created using IVF between 1991 and 2005, but about 1.2m were never used. Scientists killed the embryos who were not deemed strong enough for implantation, and froze those not considered 'waste' embryos. Those that survived the freezing process will die in ten years if not implanted. 'Surplus'...

McLean, VA - Senator Fred Thompson issued the following statement regarding today's scientific breakthrough in adult cell research: "There is exciting news for patients today. In yet another breakthrough for adult cell research, scientists have made normal human skin cells take on the relevant properties of embryonic stem cells. That is in addition to 73 breakthroughs for adult and cord blood research to date. There are still no embryonic stem cell breakthroughs. "For all who are concerned for patients and their families, the effective, ethical, and compassionate answer is to put our money where the breakthroughs are happening -- in...

NEW YORK - Scientists have made ordinary human skin cells take on the chameleon-like powers of embryonic stem cells, a startling breakthrough that might someday deliver the medical payoffs of embryo cloning without the controversy. Laboratory teams on two continents report success in a pair of landmark papers released Tuesday. It's a neck-and-neck finish to a race that made headlines five months ago, when scientists announced that the feat had been accomplished in mice. The "direct reprogramming" technique avoids the swarm of ethical, political and practical obstacles that have stymied attempts to produce human stem cells by cloning embryos. Scientists...

Advances in reproductive technology have proven to be a blessing to many a couple suffering with infertility. Thanks to these advances, couples, who in the past would have been unable to have children, now happily bounce them on their knees. However, as thrilling as these new technologies can be, their application can be fraught with moral hazard. Ethical lapses can be avoided by thinking clearly about the principles that ought to inform our decision making in this area. Principles of Human Dignity Let's begin by reflecting on the right to life. The first principle that ought to guide our thinking...

A British pro-life group warns that a new type of embryo research, likely to be approved this week by a U.K. government panel, undermines human dignity. Britain's Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority is expected to give a green light this week to U.K. laboratories seeking to create the first animal-human embryos for medical research using eggs taken from dead cows. British scientists want to use the hybrid embryos in order to research genetic diseases. Anthony Ozimic, political secretary for the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, opposes the embryo-destructive research. He says that an "a-nucleated" cow egg will only...

San Francisco, CA (LifeNews.com) -- A California company is generating controversy for a new plan to work with fertility clinics that has it killing a couple's "leftover" human embryos for "personalized" stem cell cures. The plan is drawing criticism from an unlikely source -- embryonic stem cell research backers who say it is misleading clients. StemLifeLine has entered new partnership agreements with three fertility clinics in Colorado, Nevada and Idaho. According to a press release LifeNews.com obtained, StemLifeLine "will now offer individuals who have undergone in vitro fertilization the opportunity to use StemLifeLine’s service to develop personal stem cell lines...

Harvesting stem cells without tears What are we to think about the fact that Nature (and for believers, Nature's God) profligately creates and destroys human embryos? John Opitz, a professor of pediatrics, human genetics, and obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Utah, testified before the President's Council on Bioethics that between 60 and 80 percent of all naturally conceived embryos are simply flushed out in women's normal menstrual flows unnoticed. This is not miscarriage we're talking about. The women and their husbands or partners never even know that conception has taken place; the embryos disappear from their wombs in...

Researchers from Johns Hopkins and Duke universities recently surveyed 1,000 couples who have created live offspring -- embryos -- now held in a kind of frozen suspended animation at nine U.S. infertility centers. Nearly half of the parents reportedly would give away their embryos to labs for use as general experimental material; up to 60% would hand them over specifically for stem-cell research in the course of which their embryos would be killed, according to the survey. Only a little more than 20% of the donor parents, according to this survey, reported in the journal Science, said they would allow...

Associated Press Embryonic Stem Cells Created From Unfertilized Eggs, Not Embryos, Scientists Report Scientists say they've created embryonic stem cells by stimulating unfertilized eggs, a significant step toward producing transplant tissue that's genetically matched to women. The advance suggests that someday, a woman who wants a transplant to treat a condition like diabetes or a spinal cord injury could provide eggs to a lab, which in turn could create tissue that her body wouldn't reject. Ethicists disagreed on whether the strategy would avoid the long-standing ethical objections to creating embryonic stem cells by other means. Such cells can develop into...

The debate over embryonic stem cell research continues to escalate in our country, and remains a topic of significant public interest. Because of this growing public interest, I am often invited to participate in public debates on stem cell research and cloning. My sparring partners are usually other scientists, politicians, or public policy experts. The debates are typically held at universities or colleges, and audiences generally have the opportunity to ask questions of both sides afterwards.  Having participated in a number of these debates over the past few years, I've been surprised by how often certain arguments are trotted out...

But the Catholic bishops of England and Wales, in a submission to the Parliamentary joint committee scrutinising the draft legislation, said that the genetic mothers of “chimeras” should be able to raise them as their own children if they wished. The bishops said that they did not see why these “interspecies” embryos should be treated any differently than others. The wide-ranging draft Human Tissue and Embryo Bill, which aims to overhaul the laws on fertility treatment, will include

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Should Hillary Clinton become president after next year's elections, she promises to make taxpayers fund new embryonic stem cell research that requires the destruction of human life. Currently the only way to obtain embryonic stem cells is to kill days-old unborn children. Clinton made the promise in remarks just before President Bush vetoed the latest Congressional bill overturning his policy preventing embryonic stem cell research funding. 'So let me be very clear: When I am president, I will lift the ban on stem cell research," Clinton told a political conference in Washington this morning. “This is...

HOMEARCHIVEBACKGROUNDERSQUICK PICKSABOUT USCONTACT US Comment (2) | Email | Michael Cook | Saturday, 16 June 2007 Is therapeutic cloning obsolete? After years of urging the public and governments to support the destruction of embryos, scientists may have led them up a blind alley. Next week the international grandees of therapeutic cloning gather in Cairns, Australia, the sun-soaked gateway to the Great Barrier Reef, for their annual conference. They have serious strategic issues to deal with along with their scientific papers and posters: persuading governments to open their wallets, ensuring that the Bush Administrations restrictions on their work are lifted,...

Funding Embryonic Stem Cell Research NJ plans a referendum to milk voters of $450 million for embryonic stem cell research:Assemblyman Neil Cohen told The Associated Press that the plan, if approved, would make New Jersey a global leader in stem cell research, hailed by scientists as key to therapies that could help people who are paralyzed or have illnesses ranging from diabetes to Parkinson's disease. It appears he didn't mention that adult stem cell researchers are well on their way to developing treatments for diabetes (more here and here) and Parkinson's disease (more here and here). Help me understand. Why...

Finally, some good news: A front-page story that not only brings hope on an important and contentious issue, but may even find Republicans and Democrats, conservatives and liberals, religious believers and non-believers cheering with equal enthusiasm. Scientists in Japan and the United States have now found a way to reprogram skin cells back to an embryonic state.

Glenn Sacks Discusses the Texas Frozen Embryo Case on the Nationally-Syndicated Mike McConnell Show (Audio Available) Fathers' rights advocate Glenn Sacks discussed the controversial Texas frozen embryo case on the nationally-syndicated Mike McConnell Show yesterday. The case involves Augusta Roman and her ex-husband Randy Roman, who during their marriage tried for several years to have a child (and had one miscarriage) before undergoing infertility treatments. The day before the embryos were to be implanted, Randy told her that he was troubled by certain aspects of their relationship and wanted to wait to implant the embryos until they had resolved their...

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The House of Representatives defeated a human cloning bill Wednesday that claimed to prohibit the grisly practice but would have allowed scientists to create and destroy human embryos for research. The 213-204 vote comes just one day before the House will consider a measure on embryonic stem cell research.Backers of the phony ban needed a two-thirds vote ot move the bill forward but they were unable to even get a majority vote for their measure. Rep. Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat and co-sponsor of the measure, claimed the debate was only about reproductive human cloning. "With...

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Congress will be battling this week on a bill to force taxpayers to fund embryonic stem cell research but this month members of the House will also likely do battle on various provisions that stop taxpayer-funded abortions both in the United States and abroad. Every year as Congress debates the spending bills for the various parts of the federal government, they normally attach provisions to them to stop tax-funded abortions. The provisions target everything from abortions done on American military base hospitals or in the District of Columbia to making sure the State Department isn't financing...

Concord, NH (LifeNews.com) -- Advocates of embryonic stem cell research are going after pro-life Sen. John Sununu, a New Hampshire Republican who voted against a bill in the Senate in April that would have forced taxpayers to fund embryonic stem cell research. They're hoping to change the minds of a handful of lawmakers to get a veto-proof vote. The Senate approved the measure by a vote of 63 to 34, which was short of the two-thirds necessary to override President Bush's promised veto of the bill.Three senators who supported the bill were not present for the vote, including South Dakota...

Sacramento, CA (LifeNews.com) -- The California Supreme Court rejected a lawsuit filed by pro-life and taxpayers groups saying that the state's stem cell research agency is running afoul of oversight and accountability laws. The decision allows the agency to move forward with billions in grants for human cloning and embryonic stem cell research. The state's high court decided against reviewing a state appeals court ruling from February that upheld the legality of the state's multibillion dollar embryonic stem cell research program The appeals court had said the statewide ballot proposal and committee it created were legal despite a lawsuit saying...

THE way was cleared today for scientists to conduct experiments using hybrid animal-human embryos after the UK Government bowed to a storm of protest from researchers who said a proposed ban could hurt British science. The Department of Health said it would accept a recommendation from the Commons Science and Technology Committee that inter-species embryos could be created for research. Scientists want to use the hybrid embryos to find cures for illnesses such as Parkinson's, stroke and Alzheimer's. In December, the Government had proposed a ban on creating the hybrid embryos, due to what it called "considerable public unease," with...

April 26, 2007     First designer babies to beat breast cancer   Mark Henderson, Science Editor   Two couples whose families have been ravaged by breast cancer are to become the first to screen embryos to prevent them having children at risk of the disease, The Times has learnt. Tests will allow the couples to take the unprecedented step of selecting embryos free from a gene that carries a heightened risk of the cancer but does not always cause it. The move will reignite controversy over the ethics of embryo screening. An application to test for the BRCA1...