By Farzana Paleker An increase in the number of babies being born with microcephaly in Zika-affected areas of Brazil has sparked a heated debate over the country’s strict abortion laws. Abortions in Brazil are illegal except in instances of rape and in cases where fetuses are diagnosed with anencephaly, a condition resulting in an underdeveloped brain and [...]
By Farzana Paleker An uptick in the use of heroin (and the sharing of dirty needles) has resulted in a 50% increase in the number of cases of recurrent heart valve disease. This phenomenon has presented Florida heart surgeons with an ethical dilemma: continue to provide these patients with expensive treatment, or turn them away. This increase, [...]
By Kaitlyn Schaeffer Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Rene Tamjina-Pena’s latest documentary details the horrific story of several Mexican women who were sterilized in US hospitals during the 1960s and 1970s. No Mas Bebes depicts the women, often young, afraid, and unable to speak English, and explains how they ended up on operating tables despite a lack of [...]
By Raya Bidshahri The Francis Crick institute has been granted permission to genetically modify leftover embryos from IVF clinics. This is not the first time that researchers have been given approval to modify embryos. In April 2015, a group of Chinese scientists were granted approval to modify the gene responsible for β-thalassaemia, a potentially fatal blood disorder. [...]
If you decide to shop through Amazon Smile instead of Amazon, 0.5% of your purchases will be donated to Global Bioethics Initiative. Please, click on the image below and begin shopping, if you wish. Many thanks in advance for supporting our organization.
By Ellen Arkfeld Last year, Jennifer Duodna made headlines by developing CRISPR-cas9 technology, a genome-editing technique unprecedented in its precision, ease, and cost. With CRISPR, introducing a new gene to a genome is essentially as easy as mixing chemicals in a vial. Josiah Zayner has taken this technology to the next level: all of this [...]
Global Bioethics Initiative (GBI) is dedicated to fostering public awareness and understanding of bioethical issues, and to exploring solutions to bioethical challenges. Through its events and activities, which include an annual Summer School on Global Bioethics, GBI seeks to keep the international community, policy decision-makers, the media, and the general public informed and aware of important bioethical [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
