nº 48

October 2016

REPORTS

Causas de la Transexualidad, ¿existe un gen?

Is there a transsexuality gene?

According to the most recent psychiatric medical criteria, transsexuality can be defined as a disorder of sexual identity causing gender dysphoria, understanding as such the possible psychological imbalance that may arise when there is antagonism… Read more.

Despite this age-old coexistence in all multicellular organisms, the mitochondrion continues to hide mysteries. Now is clear mitochondrial autonomy.

Mitochondrial surprises

The hereditary diseases that scientists are attempting to sidestep can remain. According to the endosymbiotic hypothesis, around 1500 million years ago, the mitochrondrion… Read more.

NEWS

A scientific article describing the application of mitochondrial replacement techniques in viable human embryos is published. Is it ethically acceptable?

Mitochondrial replacement used for the first time in viable human embryos

An article recently published Nature, describing the mitochondrial replacement techniques in viable human embryos, considering this experiment as the first preclinical study in humans… Read more.

HIV-positive patients without treatment so the new goals of the XXI International AIDS Conference is to see how it could be extended to a larger number.

Is it ethically admissible that more than half of HIV-positive patients do not have access to treatment?

As is reported more than 75 million people have been infected with HIV since 1981, and more than 36 million people have died. On the plus side, however, this viral infection is a treatable chronic desease… Read more.

IN BRIEF

CRISPR technique authorised. The first country to authorise it for clinical trial in hFirst clinical trial using the CRISPR technique authorised in humans.

First clinical trial using the CRISPR technique authorised in humans

If there is one technique on which biomedicine has pinned its hopes, it is CRISPR, a genome editing technology . This sort of genetic "cut and paste" has just received the approval of the National Institutes of Health… Read more.

Now the zika virus and microcephaly has been proven. A recent article gave recognition of causality Efforts will have to be intensified to prevent infection.

Zika virus and microcephaly. Causal relationship is confirmed by recent article

A medical problem with ethical repercussions is whether or not the Zika virus causes microcephaly, a subject that we have discussed previously. Now, a recent article has evaluated the medical evidence. The authors concluded that there…Read more.

Banning clinical and human embryos experimentation and revocation of consent to assisted procreation after fecundation in Italy.

Prohibition of experimentation with human embryos ratified by the Italian Constitutional Court

This was established in the Constitutional Court with a ruling in which the Court rejected the alleged unconstitutional nature of article 13 of Law 40, which bans clinical and experimental research on human… Read more.

Since cervical cancer is caused by HPV in most cases. Should HPV vaccination be made more widely available? One must too respect the will of the parents

Papilloma virus vaccination. Should it be made more widely available?

A medical issue with an important ethical component attached is whether vaccination against the human papilloma virus (HPV) should be made more widely available or not, starting from the basis... Read more.

Production of spermatozoa of mice wich after fertilising murine oocytes, live mice were obtained. Could this technique be performed in humans?

Experimental production of spermatozoa in mice

"Could this technique also be performed in humans to treat infertility problems without ethical problems?" A major step has been taken in the experimental production of spermatozoa, after a Chinese team were able to produce them "in vitro" from mice… Read more.