Eugene C. Tarne

Researchers using ethically uncontroversial induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) have achieved what appears to be a major breakthrough in understanding the origin and development of Down syndrome, according to a new study recently published in Nature Communications.

This primer on cloning examines the nature and purpose of human cloning in light of recent developments in stem cell technology. The paper points out that all cloning is reproductive and reflects on the immediate outcome of human cloning - a human embryo - while examining the terminology used by cloning advocates to obscure the facts.

This paper continues the investigation of stem cell research funding in the United States by examining the funding patterns at the Maryland Stem Cell Research Commission. This investigation reveals that the Maryland Commission is keeping with the trend of investing more money in ethical stem cell research as opposed to embryonic as it is this route which is providing demonstrable results.

The horrors revealed at the trial of Philadelphia abortionist Kermit Gosnell have put abortion advocates in a defensive pose.

The most recent round of grants by the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) demonstrates – again – where the future of stem cell research lies.

Great Britain’s Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), which oversees fertility treatments and embryo research in that nation, recently approved fertility procedures that would amount to the genetic engineering of children through cloning (nuclear transfer) technology and germ-line modification, resulting in a “three-parent embryo” that would have genetic material from two mothers and one father.

A recent pretrial hearing of Fort Hood shooter Major Nidal Hasan provides the opportunity to again raise the question as to why prosecutors are not seeking justice for all the victims of the 2009 massacre.

A major New England biotech company recently announced that it would begin the process that it hopes will result in the first clinical trial using induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs).

This paper examines the funding pattern of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, an institution which characterizes itself as the “largest source of funding for stem cell research outside the NIH.” Tarne demonstrates that funding has moved from grants directed primarily towards embryonic stem cell research toward primarily ethical stem cells research - which has been the only stem cell research to date to result in positive treatments for illnesses.

A recent study from researchers at the University of Washington announced a major step forward in the treatment of genetic diseases and specifically in treating Down syndrome patients.