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Imagine a world without men: Lauren Bacall but no Bogie, Hillary Clinton but no Bill, no Starsky or Hutch. This isn't just an unlikely sci-fi scenario. This could be reality, according to Bryan Sykes, an eminent professor of genetics at Oxford University and author of "Adam's Curse: A Future Without Men." "The Y chromosome is deteriorating and will, in my belief, disappear," Sykes told me. A world-renowned authority on genetic material, Sykes is called upon to investigate DNA evidence from crime scenes. His team of researchers is currently compiling a DNA family tree for our species. Y Chromosome 'Fatally Flawed'...

For the first time, scientists have completely transformed a species of bacteria into another species by transplanting its complete set of DNA. The achievement marks a significant step toward the construction of synthetic life, with applications including the production of clean fuel in as little as a decade.

Scientists could create the first new form of artificial life within months after a landmark breakthrough in which they turned one bacteria into another. Craig Venter likened the process to 'changing a Macintosh computer into a PC by inserting a new piece of software' In a development that has triggered unease and excitement in equal measure, scientists took the whole genetic makeup - or genome - of a bacterial cell and transplanted it into a closely related species. This then began to grow and multiply in the lab, turning into the first species in the process. The team that carried...

'DR. DEATH' TO BE RELEASED AP May 27, 2007 -- LANSING, Mich. - Jack Kevorkian is due to be released from prison Friday, after having served more than eight years of a 10-to-25-year sentence. The retired pathologist, who waged a defiant campaign to help profoundly ailing people commit suicide, was convicted in the assisted death of a Michigan man.

'Embryo Bank' Stirs Ethics Fears Firm Lets Clients Pick Among Fertilized Eggs By Rob Stein Washington Post Staff Writer Saturday, January 6, 2007; A01 A Texas company has started producing batches of ready-made embryos that single women and infertile couples can order after reviewing detailed information about the race, education, appearance, personality and other characteristics of the egg and sperm donors. The Abraham Center of Life LLC of San Antonio, the first commercial dealer making embryos in advance for unspecified recipients, was created to help make it easier and more affordable for clients to have babies that match their preferences,...

As Chad Kingsbury watches his daughter playing in the sandbox behind their suburban Chicago house, the thought that has flashed through his mind a million times in her two years of life comes again: Chloe will never be sick. Not, at least, with the inherited form of colon cancer that has devastated his family, killing his mother, her father and her two brothers, and that he too may face because of a genetic mutation that makes him unusually susceptible. By subjecting Chloe to a genetic test when she was an eight-cell embryo in a petri dish, Mr. Kingsbury and his...

Close window Published online: 10 July 2006; | doi:10.1038/news060710-1 Mice born from stem-cell spermMouse sperm has been made in a dish, but the method is too unreliable for use in humans.Michael Hopkin Sperm created from embryonic stem cells can give rise to live offspringCredit: Karim Nayernia For the first time, embryologists have shown that sperm created from embryonic stem cells can give rise to live offspring. The work, carried out by researchers in Germany and Britain, culminated in the production of six adult mice that owed their origins to sperm derived from these 'multipurpose' cells. But the technique certainly...

(01-24) 10:31 PST Wichita, Kan. (AP) -- A therapist who ran a group home for the mentally ill was sentenced to 30 years in prison for enslaving its residents, forcing them to work naked and making them perform sex acts. His wife received seven years behind bars. Arlan Kaufman, 69, and his wife, Linda, were convicted in November on charges that included health care fraud, forced labor and involuntary servitude. "You are an arrogant individual. You don't recognize what you have done is wrong," U.S. District Judge Monti Belot told Arlan Kaufman on Monday. "You see yourself as a victim...

Retrobreeding the Woolly Mammoth Last year in the Soviet Union, Dr. Nikhovitch Yasmilov, head of veterinary research at the University of Irkutsk, got hold of some cells - including some ova, or egg cells - from a young woolly mammoth found frozen in Siberia. Although the cytoplasm - the material forming the bulk of the cell - was unhealthy, Yasmilov was able to extract the nuclei. He implanted these into viable cytoplasm from elsewhere in the mammoth. Yasmilov continued his investigations by sending some cells to Dr. James Creak of MIT for testing. Creak heated the DNA from the mammoth...

Scientists have begun blurring the line between human and animal by producing chimeras—a hybrid creature that's part human, part animal. Chinese scientists at the Shanghai Second Medical University in 2003 successfully fused human cells with rabbit eggs. The embryos were reportedly the first human-animal chimeras successfully created. They were allowed to develop for several days in a laboratory dish before the scientists destroyed the embryos to harvest their stem cells. In Minnesota last year researchers at the Mayo Clinic created pigs with human blood flowing through their bodies. And at Stanford University in California an experiment might be done later...

Engineering's reliability theory explains human agingCHILDHOOD IS A SPECIAL TIME INDEED. If only we could maintain our body functions as they are at age 10, we could expect to live about 5000 years on average. Unfortunately, from age 11 on, it's all downhill! The problem is that our bodies deteriorate with age. For most of our lives, the risk of death is increasing exponentially, doubling every eight years. So, why do we fall apart, and what can we do about it?Many scientists now believe that, for the first time in human history, we have developed a sophisticated enough understanding of...

Local Couple Chooses Sex Of Unborn Child Fri Feb 13, 3:47 PM A lot of parents choose to find out the sex of their baby while they are pregnant. But now some parents are choosing the sex of the baby before it's even conceived. Melissa Marsh introduces us to a family from Pleasant Garden who got their wish after 10 years, a baby girl. Tommy and Dana Paschal's family consisted of three boys for 10 years. T.G.,18, is the oldest, Kevin, 16, is in the middle and Michael,12, is the youngest boy. But on October 12, 2001, the Paschal family's...

FROM AUG. 2001: MIDI - SEND IN THE CLOWNS We’ll make them smart…right from the start We will make sure that each has a healthy heart Send in the clones Next thing you know…we’ll surely go To that bizarre island of Dr. Moreau Send in the clones…we need those clones Our Brave New World…oh, what a world Huxley had told us of what he knew would be unfurled I’ve seen the future and, friends, I can tell you I hurled Send in those clones…we need those clones It’s time to fear…it’s become clear Shelley was right and our own Frankenstein’s...

Resurrection of Zachary Wheeler (1971) Suspense/Horror The story of a mysterious clinic whose patients consist of "somas"--artificial people whose sole purpose is to hold human organs in their bodies for transplants. Senator Zachary Wheeler is brought to this clinic after a horrible car accident where he is mysteriously healed. A curious TV reporter seeks to find the sinister truth of this peculiar clinic whose prize patient is a U.S. Presidential candidate. ====================== I saw this black and white movie on television probably not long after it was introduced. It really was an amazing look into the future. Will we "create"...

WASHINGTON (AP) - By modifying a simple microbe, scientists hope to create a new form of single-cell life that could lead to new and cleaner energy and perhaps play a role in biological warfare. But there are safety and ethical concerns in this new world of biology, experts say. A group led by J. Craig Venter, director of a private program that mapped the human genome (news - web sites), has received a $3 million Department of Energy (news - web sites) grant to make a new type of bacterium using DNA manufactured in the lab from basic chemicals. The...