Category Archives: Biomedical
Elegy for a Significant Speck (frozen eggs and embryos)
Two American fertility clinics reported freezers failing last month, and had thawed to an undisclosed degree. This rare event shocked hundreds of patients who were storing embryos, eggs and ovarian tissue. Maybe it was the equipment that failed or a … Continue reading
Demography of IVF and World Population
Predicting the future is fickle, as Stephen Hawking once observed: “it exists only as a spectrum of possibilities.” And, yet, divining the future is irresistible and physicists strive to forecast the future of stars, black holes and climate. Biologists are … Continue reading
Posted in Assisted reproductive technology, Biomedical, Fertility
Tagged In Vitro Fertilization, Louise Brown, Stephen Hawking, test tube baby, world population
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Human Egg Farming
We called the ambitious program, ‘Egg Farming,’ over 30 years ago when I worked at Edinburgh University. That goal drew a step closer today as my graduate student from so many years ago published results of growing human eggs in … Continue reading
Jean Purdy_Remembering a Pioneer
Some of the most absorbing stories I ever read were from historians and biographers when they bring to light the lives of forgotten pioneers and heroes. On the rare occasions my writing and research can cast a light on a … Continue reading
Posted in Assisted reproductive technology, Fertility, Memoir, Other
Tagged Hidden Figures, In Vitro Fertilization, Jamestown Island, Margot Lee Shetterly
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A Third Parent contributes her Mighty Mites (Mitochondria)
Two biological parents are enough for any baby, aren’t they? Maybe not: sometimes it’s better to have two mamas. The media have hyped a story that broke in September about a boy who was conceived by “mitochondrial replacement therapy.” His … Continue reading
Posted in Assisted reproductive technology, Fertility, Health, Other
Tagged Augment technology, Erichthonius, Hephaeustus, Human egg or oocyte, John Zhang, Mitochondria transfer, Mitochondrial disease, New Hope Fertility Center, Ovascience, Robert Hughes, Turner's syndrome
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Roger musing about Peace with Nature 