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Engineering by Scientists on Embryo Stirs Criticism
New York Times - May 13
Researchers in New York have created what is believed to be the first genetically engineered human embryo, which critics immediately branded as a step toward "designer babies." But the researchers, at Cornell University, say they used an abnormal embryo that could never have turned into a baby. That did not stop some from criticizing the work, saying that the techniques being developed could be used by others to create babies with genes modified to make them smarter, taller, more athletic or better looking. They also said there should have been more public discussion.
Guidelines for Epidemics: Who Gets a Ventilator?
New York Times - March 25
It may sound unthinkable - the idea of denying life support to some people in a public health disaster like an epidemic. But a new report says doctors, health care workers and the public need to start thinking about it. The report, by New York State health officials, grows out of the work of a group formed in 2006 to plan for the possibility of an influenza pandemic. The group focused on the breathing machines called ventilators.
Right now, there are enough ventilators to go around. But in an epidemic, there could be a severe shortage of machines and, more important, doctors and nurses to run them. At that point, the new report says, doctors and hospitals would have no choice but to start taking some people off the machines so that others could live.
House Approves Genetic Test Law
NPR - May 6
The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill that sounds a little like science fiction. It prohibits insurance companies from denying coverage to those who have genetic markers for a debilitating disease. Farai Chideya takes a closer look at the issue with Neil Trautwein - a health lobbyist and vice president of the National Retail Federation - and Jamie Brooks, senior analyst on bioethics, law and society at the Center for Genetics and Society. | 
