HS DP TOK: CRISPR & Medical Ethics

(Australia Broadcasting Corp.) – IVF activists are calling for an urgent meeting with the federal health minister, and are suggesting children born through assisted reproduction should be DNA tested.

It comes after the latest embryo mix-up this week, involving Monash IVF.

The fertility giant apologised for a second time in as many months, for incorrectly transferring the wrong embryo to a patient. (Read More)

(Wall Street Journal) – Parents desperate for treatments say cannabis helps, but doctors urge caution

Marijuana is becoming easier to get in many states, and one group showing interest might surprise you: parents of children with autism.

In online and support groups, families swap tips and share experiences—even though the science is still inconclusive. Most doctors don’t prescribe cannabis and usually advise against it.

But the few who do say demand is rising. Dr. Mohsin Maqbool, a pediatric neurologist in Plano, Texas, says about a third of his patients are children with autism and about 40% of them treated with cannabis. (Read More)

(BBC) – How do sperm swim? How do they navigate? What is sperm made of? What does a World War Two codebreaker have to do with it all? The BBC untangles why we know so little about this mysterious cell.

With every heartbeat, a man can produce around 1,000 sperm – and during intercourse, more than 50 million of the intrepid swimmers set out to fertilise an egg. Only a few make it to the final destination, before a single sperm wins the race and penetrates the egg.

But much about this epic journey – and the microscopic explorers themselves – remains a mystery to science. (Read More)

(The Guardian) – Combination of two targeted drugs found to produce better outcomes and was more tolerable than chemotherapy

A groundbreaking UK-wide trial has found a chemotherapy-free approach to treating leukaemia that may lead to better outcomes for some patients, with the results being hailed as a “milestone”.

Led by researchers from Leeds, results from the Flair trial, which took place at 96 cancer centres across the UK, could reshape the way the most common form of leukaemia in adults is treated, scientists said.

The trial set out to assess whether two targeted cancer drugs could perform better than standard chemotherapy among patients with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL). (Read More)

(The Hill) – The average age of first-time mothers in the U.S. has risen to almost 30, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

New data published in a National Vitals and Statistics Report on Friday shows the mean age of mothers at first birth increased by 0.9 years between 2016 and 2023, rising from 26.6 years to 27.5. (Read More)