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Image of in vitro fertilization
Should the scientific community abandon the 14-day rule for research on human embryos?
Research on human embryos is usually limited to the first 14 days of development, but as scientific capabilities improve, some argue that it is time to go further.
Should the scientific community abandon the 14-day rule for research on human embryos?
Should the scientific community abandon the 14-day rule for research on human embryos?

Research on human embryos is usually limited to the first 14 days of development, but as scientific capabilities improve, some argue that it is time to go further.

Research on human embryos is usually limited to the first 14 days of development, but as scientific capabilities improve, some argue that it is time to go further.

bioethics

Scientists or veterinary workers doing experiments in lab with experimental animals biological genetic engineering research
Addressing the Problematic Past of Animal Behavior Research
Holly Root-Gutteridge, PhD and Anna Korzeniowska | Apr 3, 2023 | 4 min read
Some of the foundational studies in the field were neither ethical by today’s standards nor replicable. But we can do better.
a section of a rat brain is imaged in dull green. a much brighter green human organoid takes up a large portion of the left side of the brain.
Researchers Transplant Human Neurons into Rat Brains
Katherine Irving | Oct 12, 2022 | 2 min read
The human cells, engineered to respond to blue light, influenced rat behavior when stimulated.
A black and white photo of a woman in a plumed hat in a laboratory classroom with several men
Birth of The Pill, 1956–1960
Andy Carstens | Oct 3, 2022 | 2 min read
Researchers overseeing the clinical trial for the first FDA-approved oral contraceptive claimed the drug gave the Puerto Rican participants power over their family planning. Critics claimed the women were exploited.
A postcard from the early 1900s depicting an Indigenous midden in Damariscotta, Maine.
Sticks and Bones, Circa 8000 BCE
Dan Robitzski | Sep 1, 2022 | 3 min read
Ancient stashes of animal bones, tools, and other artifacts are often dismissed as archaic garbage heaps, but the deposits provide glimpses of the cultural practices and environmental conditions of past Indigenous settlements.
Cover of When Animals Dream: A colourful illustration of an octopus.<br><br>
Book Excerpt from When Animals Dream
David M. Peña-Guzmán | Aug 25, 2022 | 3 min read
In Chapter 1, “The Science of Animal Dreams,” author David M. Peña-Guzmán relays the history of researchers digging into the mental realities of nonhuman brains.
Cover of When Animals Dream: A colourful illustration of an octopus.<br><br>
Opinion: Animal Dreaming Should Give Us Ethical Pause
David M. Peña-Guzmán | Aug 15, 2022 | 4 min read
Research shows that humans aren’t the only animals whose imaginations run wild while they sleep.
Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V computer keyboard button with cable isolated on white background
Opinion: The Reproductive Technology Advances No One Asked For
John D. Loike and Alan Kadish | Jun 22, 2022 | 4 min read
Cloning and parthenogenesis of humans wouldn’t align with bioethical principles.
Octopus in tank lined with black dots
Do Invertebrates Have Emotions?
Natalia Mesa, PhD | May 26, 2022 | 10+ min read
And how do scientists go about answering that question?
Zebrafish with fluorescent nervous system in green.
Oust the Mouse: A Plan to Reduce Mammal Use in Drug Development
Natalia Mesa, PhD | Mar 15, 2022 | 7 min read
The Scientist spoke to Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory’s Jim Strickland about the institute’s new MDI Bioscience initiative to perform more drug testing and development in nonmammalian models.
A photo of a skeleton on a black background
Ancient DNA Boom Underlines a Need for Ethical Frameworks
Amanda Heidt | Jan 27, 2022 | 10+ min read
The field of ancient DNA, which combines archaeology and anthropology with cutting-edge genetics, is requiring scientists to have frank conversations about when research is justified and who it benefits.
Multiple purple and pink renditions of stem cells appear as spherical clusters enveloped in translucent bubbles
Mammalian Embryos Might Not Need Primitive Streaks After All
Dan Robitzski | Dec 2, 2021 | 7 min read
The primitive streak, a structure that emerges during mammalian and avian gastrulation, might be a byproduct rather than a landmark of the embryonic development process.
Great Minds Don't Think Alike
Book Excerpt from Great Minds Don't Think Alike
Marcelo Gleiser | Dec 1, 2021 | 4 min read
In the introduction, editor Marcelo Gleiser establishes the need for dialogue across the science-humanities divide in academia.
Great Minds Don't Think Alike
Opinion: Bridging the Intellectual Divide
Marcelo Gleiser | Dec 1, 2021 | 3 min read
To solve modern problems, we must integrate the sciences and the humanities and think across these traditionally disparate disciplines.
Hong Kong skyline with a pink sky in the background
Book excerpt from CRISPR People
Henry T. Greely | Aug 1, 2021 | 9 min read
In Chapter 6, author Henry T. Greely describes how news of the birth of gene-edited babies rocked a 2018 summit on human genome editing.
Opinion: How Biomedicine Could Transform Human Reproduction
Henry T. Greely | Aug 1, 2021 | 3 min read
CRISPR and other innovations are likely to open up a wealth of new options for how people have children.
cartoon showing a hand taking a tool to a double-helix of DNA to represent gene editing
WHO Releases New Recommendations on Human Genome Editing
Annie Melchor | Jul 12, 2021 | 3 min read
The guidance comes after two years of consulting with hundreds of stakeholders, including indigenous peoples, religious leaders, patient groups, and scientists.
photo of a researcher looking in a microscope fertilising an egg via intracytoplasmic sperm injection.
Human Stem Cell Research Guidelines Updated
Ruth Williams | May 26, 2021 | 5 min read
Removal of the 14-day limit for culturing human embryos is one of the main changes in the revised recommendations from the International Society for Stem Cell Research.
fetal cells, fetal stem cells, policy, Biden administration, Trump administration, NIH
NIH Reverses Limits on Human Fetal Tissue Research
Amanda Heidt | Apr 19, 2021 | 3 min read
A new ruling removes the requirement that grants and proposals using the material receive approval from an ethical review board, reverting to the process in place before 2019.
ethics, bioethics, brain organoid, chimera, cell transplant, Q&A, report, NIH, NAS, neuroscience, Techniques, disease & medicine, immunology, psychiatric conditions
New Report Dissects Ethics of Emerging Human Brain Cell Models
Amanda Heidt | Apr 12, 2021 | 5 min read
The National Academies’ report touches on ethical issues raised by new technologies such as brain organoids and human-animal chimeras, and suggests that current regulatory oversight is sufficient.
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