By Farzana Paleker
An advertising campaign recently launched in Belgium calls on creative types to donate their sperm and eggs in an effort to guarantee the country’s creative future. Creative Belgium, an organization that aims to improve creativity in advertising in Belgium, has teamed up with the Centre for Reproductive Medicine of Brussels and the advertising agency Air to tackle the declining interest in the advertising profession among young Belgians.
Belgium is home …

By Princess Chukwuneke
In a time where egg and sperm donations face rigorous screening, Simon Watson, 41, appears to have found a way around it.
Watson has been an unlicensed sperm donor for 16 years, claiming dual benevolence for his actions. On one hand, he hopes to save prospective mothers from paying exorbitant treatment prices at licensed fertility clinics, which could go up to £1000 per treatment cycle. He charges only £50. …

By Kaitlyn Schaeffer
Last year 30,973 transplants were performed in the US, setting a record for the procedure, according to the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network. This number represents nearly a 5% increase from 2014.
“This landmark achievement is a testament to the generosity of the American public to help others through donation, and their trust in the transplant system to honor their life-saving gift,” said Betsy Walsh, president of the Organ …

By Ellen Arkfeld
In a conventional In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) treatment, zygotes develop in an incubator before they are implanted into a woman’s uterus. This incubator is designed to mimic the human body.  Recently, however, physicians developed an alternative method of incubation: instead of using an incubator, the zygotes grow in an INVOcell, a device that is actually inside the body. INVOcell was first used in Canada in February 2015, and was approved …

Wishing you good times, good cheer, and a memorable New Year, Global Bioethics Initiative invites students and professionals worldwide to attend bioethics summer programs in 2016! Partial Scholarships for participants residing in low-income countries & Continuing Medical Education (CME) credits are available. Please visit our summer school website and Apply Now! Global Bioethics Initiative (GBI) is dedicated to fostering public awareness and understanding of bioethical issues, and to exploring solutions to …

By Kaitlyn Schaeffer
Once upon a time, children could be conceived in only one way. But advances in medical technology have resulted in a number of ways for children to be born; one such method is via surrogacy. Surrogacy has provided a way for single parents or couples who are for some reason unable to conceive to have children. In cases where a surrogate bears a child for others, she is …

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. …