A good recent summary of some of the developments in prosthetics.

See We have the technology to rebuild ourselves – tech – 07 January 2009 – New Scientist.

Far-fetched as it may seem now, what if cosmetic surgery was to one day extend to replacing perfectly good arms and legs with more beautiful or powerful ones in the hope of producing another Michael Phelps or Victoria’s Secret model? “Then we will have to evolve as a society a new morality, new ethics and codes of conduct, won’t we?” says Gow.

(David Gow is the inventor of the i-Limb hand).

What happens to embryos created by IVF but not implanted is a fraught question for many, but it gets more complicated when those storing the embryos can’t contact the couples.

See Embryos in limbo – dilemma for clinics – Religion and beliefs – NZ Herald News. (It’s been filed in the Herald’s “Religion and beliefs” section but they probably need a more general ‘ethics’ section as it impacts on more than just religious beliefs”)

A series of interconnected posts from around the net recently:

• James Hughes over at Trans-Spirit : Message: Vatican condemns enhancement, embryonic stem cells, cloning highlights the recent Vatican document Dignitas Personae relating to bioethics
• He then follows it up with a list of other Catholic bioethics-related publications at – Trans-Spirit : Message: Dignitas Personae and previous documents. The links are a little broken in places but you should be able to make them out.
• Science & Religion Today: Religion Affects View of Scientific Decisions points to how ‘faith’ in one (science or religion) affects ‘faith’ in the other.
• And Who Cares if the Vatican Weighs in on Bioethics? | blog.bioethics.net figures that religious bioethics is, at the end of the day, irrelevant.

A timely reminder in the face of all the hooplah about human-machine interfaces : timeless : Direct Human Brain – AI – Interface Technologies by Gina Rydland.

Lack of factual information creates a naive conception of the development process of technologies sanctioned as safe to use, clouding the public debate and undermining sufficient grounds for government decision making. Securing human rights and safety when testing and implementing safe to use technologies, demands access to more specialized and accurate knowledge than today’s global polititical, military and industrial climate permits.

Resonates with Greenflame · Brain-machine interfaces and genuine concern for the other.

Following on from the previous posting here’s an ongoing development in Europe. See European agency rules against stem cell patents | Health | Reuters.

Related links: Are we too risk averse? and Social issues and GM crops – LearningSpace – OpenLearn – The Open University.  

From around the place at the moment

ERMA (Environmental Risk Management Authority) are wanting submissions by Dec 8 on the revised methodology related to the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act. See ERMA: Submissions on proposed GMO regulations if you’re interested in making a submission.

Strict rules hedge 10-year GE onion trial – 28 Nov 2008 – NZ Herald: New Zealand and International environment and global warming news

Potato pioneer stuck in field trials – 29 Nov 2008 – NZ Herald: Science News from New Zealand and around the World

Scientists say it’s time to let GM genie out of the bottle – 29 Nov 2008 – NZ Herald: Science News from New Zealand and around the World

Some interesting questions being raised by the Privacy Commission over the storage and lifetime of NZ baby’s DNA in blood samples taken at birth.

From Warning on abuse of baby DNA data – Stuff.co.nz

Xenotransplantation clinical trials where pig tissue is transplanted into humans in order to help treat diabetes have been given provisional approval by the Minister of Health. Should make for some interesting discussion.

See Go-ahead for pig cell trial on humans – National News – Dominion Post.

See also the xenotransplantation information at Publications [Bioethics Council].

Today I’ve been reading bits of Pacific Genes & Life Patents which is a collection of papers looking at bioethics, biotechnology and genetics from Pacific and Oceanian perspectives. The articles aren’t always ‘polished’ but they convey a deep passion about the issues being faced and the need to Pacific voices to be heard in the face of Western technological and economic agendas. The material on biopiracy (and to a lesser extent bioprospecting) is alarming, to say the least.

The full reference to the book is:

Mead, Aroha Te Pareake, Steven Ratuva, Call of the Earth Llamado de la Tierra (Organization), and Institute of Advanced Studies. Pacific Genes & Life Patents : Pacific Indigenous Experiences & Analysis of the Commodification & Ownership of Life. Wellington, N.Z. ; Yokohama, Japan: Call of the Earth Llamado de la Tierra and the United Nations University of Advanced Studies, 2007.

And there are more details at Call of the Earth – Publications as well as a downloadable copy of the book (for free).

Two different approaches to working towards treating the same condition. One via stem cells, the other via creating adapted foods.

• Stem-cell transplant staves off radical surgery for Crohn’s sufferer

• Nutrigenomics
• • Nutrigenomics | Biotech Learning Hub
  • Nutrigenomics New Zealand – About Us