Gamete donation in assisted human reproduction is a topic that generates considerable debate in bioethics, centered mainly on the discussion of how to accommodate the wishes of the intended parents while respecting the rights of the children, who should always remain the [...]
A recent study by Johns Hopkins University published in Nature has identified specific maternal genetic variants that explain the high rate of embryo inviability and pregnancy loss due to aneuploidy. Although the finding sheds light on the molecular causes of [...]
The birth of a baby after 31 years of embryonic cryopreservation highlights the bioethical dilemma posed by thousands of human embryos left over from in vitro fertilization techniques that remain indefinitely frozen in centers around the world. This extraordinary case, [...]
In the trial, which took place in Virginia, a cancer survivor sued her ex-husband because she wanted the sole ownership of the two embryos they had frozen after an IVF cycle or divide them as jointly owned personal property. The woman, who [...]
Human beings have been recognized as having a moral value since the dawn of human history. We have been aware of the practice of funeral rituals since the Neanderthals began burying their dead about 100,000 years ago, a clear sign [...]
The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has published a statement by its Chief Executive, Peter Thompson, in which he recommends that the British government extend the time limit on embryo research. The current limit generally established for research on [...]
A recent study analyzes the surplus of cryopreserved human embryos surplus from in vitro fertilization techniques stored in the United Kingdom. According to this research, their number is the highest since records began in 1991 by the UK Human Fertilisation [...]
The Alabama Supreme Court has legally equated frozen embryos with born children, prohibiting their destruction and establishing serious legal consequences if it is done. “Unborn children are ‘children’ under the [law], without exception based on developmental stage, physical location, or [...]
Introduction On Wednesday, 13 September, a proposal from the European Parliament on the regulation of “substances of human origin” (SoHO) was approved. The initiative aims to establish a legal framework for action with all those substances derived from human beings [...]
An article recently published in the journal Cell, raises the need to assign a legal status to new embryonic models – human embryos – obtained from pluripotent cells, coming from embryonic cells (human Embryonic Stem Cells (HESCs) or from reprogrammed [...]
As we previously explained in an article published by our Observatory, artificial embryos (also called embryoids, embryonic models or blastoids) are cellular aggregates obtained from what are popularly known as “stem cells”. These cells reflect some structures and functions of [...]
The human body is in constant relationship with the outside world. Through different systems, it establishes a continuous communication to maintain balance, development and protection against possible external aggressions of the organism. One of them is the immune system, which [...]
