nº 45

June 2016

REPORTS

Genetic engineering in human embryos needed to mature considerably before it could be applied to human embryos for therapeutic purposes

Genetic engineering of human embryos to treat diseases. An unprejudiced reflection

Many laboratories have employed the genetic engineering technique, in the hope that it might one day be used to treat human diseases. Things seem to have accelerated in the last few days though, after the authorisation in the UK (PDF version)… Read more.

Bioethical debates in the field of research and biomedical practice. Why must be excluded religious ethics from the secular medical debate?

Contributions of religion in the field of research and biomedical practice

Bioethical debates deal with the questions raised by scientific-technical breakthroughs. The swiftness with which these advances take place calls into question whether moral and theological ethics can provide answers to the new, or whether it should capitulate (PDF version)... Read more .

NEWS

A very interesting innovation of using iPS cells for the production of epithelial tissue opens the door to the production of artificial skin

Artificial skin . Recent study opens the doors to production of functionally active skin

A very interesting innovation of using iPS cells for the production of epithelial tissue. A recent study published in Science Advances, describes the production of skin, functionally active…

Genome editing. Human embryos modified for the second time

Risks that they involve for the individual treated and future generations, and for the step taken towards human “enhancement”. An article in which is announced that had been used the CRISPR/Cas9 technique to introduce a genetic modification… Read more.

Embrión humano, un reciente estudio arroja luces sobre la importancia de la relación

Surrogate motherhood stirs deep controversy for both medical and ethical reasons

Surrogate motherhood can be genetic or gestational, which refers to the implantation in the surrogate mother of an embryo that was obtained by one of three means… Read more.

Se crean bancos de organoides que mimetizan la estructura y función de los respectivos órganos, Cuadro de sus potenciales aplicaciones

Potential application of organoids that mimic different organs

In 2011, almost incidentally, Madeline Lancaster of the Institute of Molecular Biotechnology in Vienna managed to produce primitive retina cells and different nerve cells from embryonic stem cells. However, Lancaster and her colleagues were not the first to produce a brain mini-structure in a bioartificial culture… Read more.

IN BRIEF

Suicides rates in Spain shows the highest figure recorded since 1980, when the Spanish National Institute of Statistics (INE) began this information

Sicides double the number of deaths due to road accidents for the first time in Spain

The suicides rates shows a total of 3,910 people took their own lives, the highest figure recorded since 1980, when the Spanish National Institute of Statistics (INE) began publishing this information. The data show that in 2014, suicides were again… Leer más.

Organ harvesting from Chineses prisioners included in "The Trasplant system" seems that behind it is a government ploy to gain institutional credibility

Organ harvesting from Chinese prisoners. The issue remains unresolved

Although legal provisions were published in January 2015 regulating organ donation from prisoners on death row in China, in practice . It seems that behind it… Read more.

Assisted reproduction risks to what extent singleton pregnancies achieved following these procedures have more risks than those conceived naturally

Do pregnancies achieved following assisted reproduction techniques have more risks?

One medical and ethical aspect of assisted reproduction that should be considered is to what extent singleton pregnancies achieved following these procedures have (or ave not) more risks than those conceived naturally. In an extensive meta-analysis that included 161,370 births following assisted procreation and 2,280,241 conceived naturally…

Mitochondrial therapy. U. S. A. have also proposed this practice be legalised

Mitochondrial transfer (modified mitochondrial therapy) was recently approved in the United Kingdom. Now, a group of investigators in the United States have also proposed . However… Read more.

Organoids. Three-dimensional stomach tissue has been produced from mouse which could be used to study various types of stomach diseases

Stomach organoids produced from mouse embryonic stem cells

Three-dimensional stomach tissue has been produced from mouse embryonic stem cells. Investigators added various growth factors to a culture of stem cells and 6 days later, stomach tissue was generated. After 60 days, the stomach tissue produced… Read more.