| In
This Issue
Geoffrey Lomax
IOM Roundtable on Cancer and the Environment:
Gene-Environment Interactions
An
important report on genes and their environments from the Institute of
Medicine, of the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, DC May
16-17. ABC-TV’s Sam Donaldson weighs in for more agreement among
scientists. Former Illinois Congressman John Porter calls on scientists
to “engage” their representatives against relaxing environmental
standards during the energy crunch, and to take the “squeeze” out of
the environmental health research budget. Karolinska’s Kari Hemminki
casts more light on the relative contributions of genetic and
environmental factors in causing cancer through an unique study of twins
in Scandinavia.
Read More
Mary Davidson
Legislation Needed To Stop Genetic
Discrimination
The Executive Director of an international
coalition outlines four policy principles to guide an end to genetic
discrimination.
Read
More
New
Name, Expanded Horizon
The “Project” Becomes A Consortium!
The
Amarillo Health Project gets a new name, The Amarillo Health
Consortium, and in the process expands it’s horizons and
mission as a community-based agency focused on occupational and
environmental health. First task: cancer detection.
Read More |
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Moral Questions
Dear Unsigned: Hayek Would Not
Regulate Stem Cell Research With “Market Strategies”
A letter-to-the-editor from a
reader used our archives, accessed our October 2000 issue, found an
article relevant to the current international debate on the use of stem
cells in biomedical research, and asked a good moral question on ethical
issues raised by dependence on the marketplace. The question leads us to
ask another: how really “voluntary” are “volunteer “ research
subjects paid a “market” price for their risks in stem cell [or any]
research?
Read
More
Nancye Buelow
Unique, Urgent Need for Blood Plasma Availability
Safe and available blood
plasma supplies for patients with alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency are in
danger. Help from the Secretary of Health and Human Services is needed!
Read
More
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| News
In Brief!
September Update
- Possible Gene Therapy for
Alpha-1. A team of
researchers headed by TR Flotte at the
University of Florida injected a virus containing the DNA
for human alpha-1 antitrypsin in the veins of mice, and
achieved levels of the protein that could be therapeutic for
a year. Humans who inherit a deficiency of the protein may
be predisposed to lung and liver disease, often triggered by
environmental factors. The virus is unlike the strain
implicated in a death after gene therapy at the
University of Pennsylvania in 1999, which led to a temporary
halt in human trials. New trials using different viruses
have been approved. Contributing Editor Robert Sandhaus, who
is Executive Vice President of the Alpha One Foundation, cautioned
that “this is uncharted territory and movement forward
will need to be done with care.” National Institutes of
Health and the Foundation supported the research, The report
appears in the September 2001 issue of Gene Therapy. See
our archives for additional information on Alpha-1.
- Heart Repaired By Adult
Stem Cells? Cardiologist
BE. Strauer and stem cell researcher Peter Wernet
used stem cells from a patient’s own body to possibly
achieve a reduction of damaged tissue and an improvement in
heart performance. The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung [Aug.
24, 2001] reported that the researchers, from Dusseldorf’s
Heinrich Heine University, “extracted stem cells from bone
marrow in the 46-year-old patient’s pelvis and injected
them into his aorta.” The doctors warned that the patient
might have recovered on his own without help from the
injected cells, making further tests necessary before wide
use.
- Human Genetics,
Environment and Communities of Color: Ethical and Social
Implications. Conference
at Columbia University, Sept. 20, 2001. Speakers: Kenneth
Olden, Director of the National Institute for Environmental
Health Sciences; Eula Bingham, University of Cincinnati; and
Paul Schulte, National Institute of Occupational Safety and
Health. Details? www.weact.org
- Genetics, Policy and Law: A National Forum.
Oct.
5, 2001,Washington, DC. Hosts: Genetic Technologies
Project of National Conference of State Legislatures,
Georgetown University Law Center, and Johns Hopkins School of
Hygiene and Public Health. Major address by NHGRI Director
Francis Collins. Information? www.ncsl.or/programs/health/genetics/oct-meet.htm
…The Editors |
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