Should we clone human beings? Cloning as a source of tissue for transplantation.
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The most publicly justifiable application of human cloning, if there is one at all, is to provide self-compatible cells or tissues for medical use, especially transplantation. Some have argued that this raises no new ethical issues above those raised by any form of embryo experimentation. I argue that this research is less morally problematic than other embryo research. Indeed, it is not merely morally permissible but morally required that we employ cloning to produce embryos or fetuses for the sake of providing cells, tissues or even organs for therapy, followed by abortion of the embryo or fetus. (+info)
The morality of abortion and the deprivation of futures.
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In an influential essay entitled Why abortion is wrong, Donald Marquis argues that killing actual persons is wrong because it unjustly deprives victims of their future; that the fetus has a future similar in morally relevant respects to the future lost by competent adult homicide victims, and that, as consequence, abortion is justifiable only in the same circumstances in which killing competent adult human beings is justifiable. The metaphysical claim implicit in the first premise, that actual persons have a future of value, is ambiguous. The Future Like Ours argument (FLO) would be valid if "future of value" were used consistently to mean either "potential future of value" or "self-represented future of value", and FLO would be sound if one or the other interpretation supported both the moral claim and the metaphysical claim, but if, as I argue, any interpretation which makes the argument valid renders it unsound, then FLO must be rejected. Its apparent strength derives from equivocation on the concept of "a future of value". (+info)
Human embryonic stem cells and respect for life.
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The purpose of this essay is to stimulate academic discussion about the ethical justification of using human primordial stem cells for tissue transplantation, cell replacement, and gene therapy. There are intriguing alternatives to using embryos obtained from elective abortions and in vitro fertilisation to reconstitute damaged or dysfunctional human organs. These include the expansion and transplantation of latent adult progenitor cells. (+info)
Contribution of gastrin-releasing peptide and its receptor to villus development in the murine and human gastrointestinal tract.
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Recent studies have shown that aberrantly expressed gastrin-releasing peptide (GRP) and its receptor (GRP-R) critically regulate tumor cell differentiation in colon cancers developing in humans and mice. This finding suggested that the ability of GRP/GRP-R to promote a well-differentiated phenotype in colon cancer might reflect a re-capitulation of a normal role in regulating intestinal organogenesis. To determine if this was the case, we compared and contrasted intestinal development in GRPR-/- mice with their wild type littermates. GRP/GRP-R co-expression in wild type mice was only observed in villous enterocytes between N-1 and N-12. During this time frame villous growth was completely attenuated in GRPR-/- mice. The contribution of GRP/GRP-R to villous growth was due to their act in increasing enterocyte proliferation prior to N-8 but increasing enterocyte size thereafter. From N-12 onwards, small intestinal villous growth in GRPR-/- mice resumed such that no difference in this structure could be detected at adulthood between mice of either genotype. We next studied GRP/GRP-R expression in human abortuses. These proteins were co-expressed by villous enterocytes only between weeks 14 and 20 post-conception, a time frame analogous to when they are expressed in the murine intestine. Thus, this study shows for the first time that GRP/GRP-R play a transient and non-critical role in intestinal development, yet provides a rationale for their re-appearance in colon cancer. (+info)
Prevalence of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus, porcine circovirus type 2 and porcine parvovirus from aborted fetuses and pigs with respiratory problems in Korea.
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Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus(PRRSV)0, porcine circovirus type 2(PCV-2) and porcine parvovirus (PPV)0 infections were investigated as possible causes of the postweaning multisystemic wasting syndrome(PMWS). Specific primers for RT-PCR and PCR were designed for the differential detection of PRRSV, PCV-2 and PPV. Using PCR, these viruses were detected in homogenized tissue samples from pigs that had respiratory of reproductive problems in the time period between 1998 and 2000; the overall prevalences were: PRRSV 31.4%, PCV-2 46.5%, and PPV 8.1%. PCV-2 was also detected in aborted fetal tissues. (+info)
Diagnosis of natural exposure to bovine viral diarrhea in a vaccinated herd by measuring extended antibody titers against bovine viral diarrhea virus.
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Two abortions occurred in a 150-head commercial cow-calf herd. Bovine viral diarrhea was suspected and confirmed by measuring extended titers against bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) in a sample of 15 breeding females. Fifteen were sero-positive and 11 had significantly high titers (1:972-1:8748), likely due to natural exposure to cattle persistently infected with BVDV. (+info)
Presumptive Toxoplasma gondii abortion in a sheep.
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A primiparous ewe aborted in mid-gestation. Toxoplasma gondii was suspected as the cause of abortion and a presumptive diagnosis of T. gondii abortion was based on histological lesions of the placenta. (+info)
Descriptive epidemiology of late-term abortions associated with the mare reproductive loss syndrome in central Kentucky.
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Epidemiological and pathological findings of 433 late-term abortions associated with the mare reproductive loss syndrome (MRLS) in central Kentucky were identified by reviewing the records of the University of Kentucky Livestock Diseases Diagnostic Center. The distribution of dates of abortion was clustered during a brief period of time, presumably from a simultaneous environmental exposure. The most common pathological findings were microscopic pulmonary lesions consisting of squamous epithelial cells present in alveoli with or without concurrent infiltration of inflammatory cells (neutrophils, macrophages, or monocytes) in the interstitium or within alveoli. Isolation of a non-beta-hemolytic Streptococcus (52% of fetuses) or an Actinobacillus sp. (19% of fetuses) was common. Placentitis or funisitis was identified in 44% of fetuses. No single pathological finding, however, was pathognomonic for MRLS-associated late-term abortion. This report describes the pathological findings characterizing the MRLS-associated abortion. A cause of MRLS could not be determined from necropsy findings. (+info)