by NexDev | April 15, 2016 | News
A report published April 11, 2016 in the Journal of the Canadian Medical association confirms that selective abortions according to sex are practiced in Canada by the immigrant populations from Asiatic countries as can also be observed in Great Britain.
The study carried out between 1990 to 2011demonstrated a ratio of 105 boys for 100 girls in the general population, whereas it is 138 boys for 100 girls in families of Indian origin. In Ontario, in families who already have 2 girls, the ratio starting with the 3rd child is 326 boys for 100 girls.
Economical and bioethical experts denounce the combination of easy access to abortion with techniques for determining sex at increasingly earlier stages, which makes Canada an attractive place for aborting feminine fetuses, which is contrary to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Whereas the law of 2004, the Assisted Human Reproduction Act, forbids sex-selection for pre-implantation of embryos in assisted reproduction, fetuses are not protected in abortions according to sex.
Since abortion was decriminalized by the Supreme Court in 1988, there is no federal law on abortion in Canada, no legal stipulations and no mention of time limits, even if the majority of abortions are practiced before 24 weeks, which corresponds to the viability limit of the fetus. Beyond that time limit, women go to the United States for late term abortions.
Debates exist opposing those who are pro-abortion, who fear limitations on abortion, and those who wish to forbid the practice of selective abortions. In 2012, Deputy Mark Warawa tried to have a motion adopted to forbid sex-selective abortions, which failed, rejected as inadmissible.
South Korea demonstrates a thought-provoking example since the gender ratio imbalance has been successfully reduced. The country prohibits the practice of sex-selective abortion as seen in the Canadian study. Other factors have also contributed to this decrease according to the United Nations Population Fund: social and economical development in the country, and also the national campaign « Love Your Daughters ».
by NexDev | April 12, 2016 | Medically Assisted Procreation
On April 8, 2016 a new Chinese team from Guangzhou Medical University published an article in the « Journal of Assisted Reproduction and Genetics » where they describe having used the CRISPR-Cas9 technique to genetically modify human embryos.
This is the second publication of its kind, appearing almost one year after the first research study also performed by a Chinese team, which caused quite an international stir because this transgression raises serious ethical issues. As in the first controversial research study, the team used so-called 3PN embryos, which are generally believed to be “non-viable”.
These new experiments were carried out to add a mutation to the genome, and thus try to create a specific form of allele for CCR5 gene, labeled CCR5Δ32, capable of reducing human susceptibility to HIV.
The results of this experiment seem mixed, as analyzed by the American, Paul Knoepfler, eminent scientist and stem cell specialist at Davis Medical School in California.
The Chinese team reports having been able to induce mutation in only 10-15% of the embryos, but, and this is a fact considered as a positive outcome, they did not observe any “off-target” effects (i.e. making edits in other undesirable genomic spots). However another kind of mutation called “Indel” was observed 36-63% of the time. These mutations could lead to complete inactivation of CCR5 gene or production of abnormal forms of the protein which is responsible for this gene. CRISPR can lead to this “error” due to cells utilizing a specific type of DNA repair in response to cutting by CAS9 called “non-homologous end joining”.
It is also important to point out that the authors did not do complete DNA sequencing to look for “off-target effects” but only looked at a dozen potential sites for the presence of possible undesirable “secondary effects”.
A successful production of genetically modified human embryos that bear the CCR5Δ32 gene would require having both CCR5 alleles modified. Yet the authors did not find such homozygous CCR5Δ32 embryos. They observed evidence of mosaicism in these embryos as well: some cells were modified, others not.
According to Paul Knoepfler, the idea to create a genetically modified human being resistant to HIV infection could also lead to the idea of modifying blood cells ex vivo in the context of a gene therapy project. But this new Chinese study demonstrates many problems with this kind of research. Paul Knoepfler states « this paper does not in my opinion strengthen the case that the use of CRISPR-Cas9 on human embryos with reproductive intent is ever something that could work well enough to be done clinically.”
The Chinese team concludes that their work has implications for the development of therapeutic treatments of genetic disorders and it demonstrates that significant technical issues remain to be addressed. They end their report by advocating prevention of “any application of genome editing on the human germ line until after rigorous and thorough evaluation and discussion are undertaken by the global research and ethics communities.”
FOR ALLIANCE VITA
« This new step is one more alert. It is foreseeable that more and more teams throughout the world will work on human embryos for research purposes, and then the temptation to go further will strongly increase. This could open the door to the possibility of creating genetically modified children in the future, with genuine risks of eugenic abuse. This makes the necessity for a moratorium on human stem cells and the necessity for a true ethical debate on the subject all the more urgent”.
by NexDev | April 12, 2016 | Uncategorized
The National Consultative Ethics Committee (CCNE) is treating the case for intersexual individuals. At the last CCNE technical committee, the decision to publish a notice by the end of the year on the situation of intersexual individuals who demand the right to be declared neither male nor female for their civil status was ratified on March 10. This request specifically concerns individuals born with both male and female genitalia.
This notice will only be for consultation but authorities may then rely on it to define their policy on the subject, which could lead toward recognition of a “third sex”. Debates have already taken place in France, in particular a judgment by the court of Tours recognizing the right for an individual to benefit from the mention “neutral sex” on the registry office for the first time. The Orléans Court of Appeal overturned this verdict this year on March 22. The General Prosecutor’s Office appealed, considering that French law in no way provides the possibility of bearing the distinction “neutral sex” on a civil status record.
For Vincent Guillot, founding member of Organization Intersex International (OII), “the issue of a sort of “third sex”, “third gender”, neutral sex or gender do not originate from intersex associations. The only request regarding this matter is to aim at abolishing the mention of sex and gender on civil status and administrative documents for all citizens.”
by NexDev | April 8, 2016 | Uncategorized
The Human Brain Project (HBP) is a large European study and modeling project of the human brain which, by the year 2024, aims to simulate human brain function thanks to a “supercomputer”. Fifty percent of this project is supported and financed by the European Union. It aims to better understand brain function and help progressing in neuroscience. “The long-term objective is also to find treatments against diseases which are affected by this and are a heavy burden for society”, specifies the French neurobiologist Jean-Pierre Changeux.
Those in charge of the brain research program piloted by the Lausanne Polytechnic School (EPFL) announced the beginning of their collaborative platforms. These instruments open to the scientific community will allow data sharing and compilation, access to tools and simulations on the brain. “Supercomputers” all over Europe were added to the network. In total, six research platforms were created: the first one is dedicated to data recording and analysis in neurosciences; the second to reconstruction and brain simulation; the third to large quantities of data processing; the fourth to brain disease research thanks to real patients data analysis; the fifth to programming computer systems to imitate brain microchips; and, finally, the last one aims to connect virtual models of brains to robots.
by NexDev | April 8, 2016 | Medically Assisted Procreation
The OPECST (Parliamentary Office for Scientific and Technological Assessment) held a public hearing on Thursday, April 7 at the French National Assembly on the challenges of new biotechnologies possible with genome-targeted modification using CRISPR-Cas9.
This hearing, which has a rich and dense program, gave the opportunity to numerous experts to inform the public: scientific executives from industrial backgrounds, professors, doctors, researchers, political analysts…
The first two round table discussions focused on “technological breakthroughs” made possible by CRISPR-Cas9 and the potential gene therapy applications for human beings. Numerous research studies have already been launched, and as specified by some speakers, these studies which are still at the experimental stage must still overcome certain obstacles: the “off target” effects, safety studies, in particular, which will doubtless still take a few years before the first clinical trials.
The question of germ cells use (embryo, gametes), which constitutes one of the most important ethical issues, was also evoked.
Blanche STREB, Study Manager for Alliance VITA, raised the question, already proposed by other international authorities, of a germ cell moratorium. If the experiments move forward, “the temptation will be very strong to apply it to the human embryo, including for creating children in the future. (…) We can see this already with what is occurring with three people babies.” (IVF made with cells from another woman.)
On this point, for Dr. Jean Louis Mandel, geneticist at the Institute of Genetics and Molecular and Cellular Biology (IGBMC), “any human innovation is always dangerous. (…) But there can be applications which could be interesting, even if they will be extremely limited. (…) On the germinal aspect, the technique has to be improved. But we need to keep the possibility of working for medical reasons in order to respond to certain situations.“
For Dr. Jean-Claude Ameisen, president of the National Consultative Committee of Ethics (CCNE), “a free and informed choice means being informed; if there is no research, there is no information, thus the research is a priority. (…) If there should be a moratorium, it will be on certain applications, because of the deficit of knowledge and research. (…) Germinal therapy could be envisaged as being the object of a moratorium.“
This public hearing constitutes the first step. For Catherine Procaccia, senator, vice-president of OPECST, “we are on the first step of the study, we are still going to work on the subject for several months.”
