By Farzana Paleker
Following an International Summit on Human Gene Editing in Washington D.C. earlier this month, scientists in the U.S. are now allowed to experiment on human genes – as long as it does not result in a pregnancy. The summit was organized after scientists in China successfully used CRISPR, a DNA editing tool, to genetically modify human embryos. The embryos were destroyed after the scientists performed germline (inheritable) modifications, …

By Ellen Arkfeld
The days of human genome editing are rapidly approaching with the development of the editing tool CRISPR.  CRISPR grants scientists unprecedented precision and ease in editing the genome.  Unlike previous genetic engineering technologies, CRISPR is highly accurate and allows DNA editing without causing adverse side effects.
One application of CRISPR involves the manipulation of human embryos for therapeutic purposes. Genes can be edited to test cures diseases, such as cancer and Parkinson’s disease. CRISPR …

By Kaitlyn Schaeffer
Following a Dateline Documentary that aired in September 2015, Belgium’s struggle with its controversial euthanasia legislation has exploded. The law allows people to voluntarily have their lives ended by doctors even when they’re not terminally ill, so long as they are experiencing “incurable, unbearable suffering.” Since the law was passed, the number of patients seeking death for mental suffering has skyrocketed. Even children can elect to end their …

By Rimah Jaber
At the Cleveland Clinic, doctors are leading new transplant operations with an organ rarely donated – the uterus. To ensure success of uterus transplants, specialists from both reproductive medicine and transplant surgery have been recruited.
The Cleveland Clinic expects to be the first in the United States to perform a uterus transplant in order to help women without one become pregnant, and in the best case scenario, give birth. …

By Ellen Arkfeld
Congratulations to the excellent team at NYU Langone Medical Center! We are inspired by the team’s unique medical achievement of the most extensive face transplant and proud of the contribution of one of our honorable GBI Board of Directors’ members, Dr. Bruce Gelb.
NYU Langone Medical Center has announced the success of the first full-face transplant.  The surgery is also the first of its kind to be performed on …

New York City | July 11-22, 2016
​Global Bioethics Initiative in partnership with New York Society for Ethical Culture invite students and professionals worldwide to attend the International Bioethics Summer School in Manhattan, New York City, 2016. Join us for this one-of-a-kind educational opportunity! The School Venue is The New York Society for Ethical Culture in Manhattan, NYC. Click here to Apply Now! *Students may apply to attend the Summer Program as well as to intern at GBI. For information regarding …

By Kaitlyn Schaeffer
54-year-old Nicolas Bonnemaison has been convicted of killing a patient in a high-profile trial in France. He was charged with the deaths of seven elderly patients. He was found guilty on six of those counts. He received a two-year suspended sentence. Prosecutor Olivier Tcherkessof said that the doctor is “not a killer,” but he is still responsible for the deaths of his patients.
Bonnemaison’s conviction came amidst a heated …

By Ellen Arkfeld
A new heart transplant technique in Australia has the potential to increase the number of heart transplants by 30 per cent. This could be extremely beneficial to patients in Australia as the country has a shortage of organ donors: only 100 hearts are transplanted in Australia every year, and around 1,600 people are on organ transplant waitlists at any given time.
This technique enables hearts to be taken from …

By Kaitlyn Schaeffer
A fourteen-year-old girl who was born via in vitro fertilization was ordered by a high court in London to stay in touch with her biological father and his father’s civil partner.
The girl lives with her mother and her mother’s civil partner. She has had very little contact with her biological father and his partner, and did not wish to spend more time with them. The girl’s biological mother …

By Ellen Arkfeld
In recent years, doctors in the UK have noted that younger women are more frequently opting to conceive through In-Vitro Fertilization (IVF). For some, this process provides the opportunity to have children while remaining virgins.
The National Health Service (NHS) only covers IVF treatment for heterosexual women who have been trying to conceive via natural means for at least two years. But at least five clinics in the UK …