Category Archives: Biomedical

Biomedicine, especially reproductive medicine, embryology

Fertility owes Preservation to a Sheep

Posted on June 20, 2015 by Roger Gosden

The journal Human Reproduction reported a 27-year old woman in Belgium has delivered a healthy baby boy. That would not be newsworthy if she had not been rendered sterile at 13 years old by a life-saving bone marrow transplant for … Continue reading →

Posted in Biomedical, Fertility | Tagged Dolly the sheep, Edinburgh University, frozen ovary, ovary transplant, Sherman Silber | Comments Off

Explore your Longevity with UbbLE

Posted on June 13, 2015 by Roger Gosden

Two Swedish biostatisticians drawing data from the UK Biobank have created a test accessible online for estimating your “age” and chances of surviving the next five years. It’s published in The Lancet medical journal. I couldn’t wait to try it! … Continue reading →

Posted in Biomedical, Other | Tagged MetLife, Rembrandt, UbbLE Longevity Explorer | Comments Off

Make Meat Special

Posted on May 28, 2015 by Roger Gosden

Feeling carnivorous or vegetarian, or somewhere in-between? Is it okay to be carnivorous? Is it natural (whatever that means)? I asked these questions when I was a teenager, like many other people who love animals. For a while I half-heartedly … Continue reading →

Posted in Biomedical, Environment | Tagged carnivore, dietary calories, Elsie Widdowson, grass fed beef, paleo diet, price of meat | Comments Off

GM Human Eggs Have Arrived

Posted on May 1, 2015 by Roger Gosden

We heard confirmation last week of rumors that scientists at Sun Yat-sen University in southern China were trying to change the DNA of freshly-fertilized human eggs. This “first” in science was greeted with horror, hand-wringing, and a storm of criticism. … Continue reading →

Posted in Biomedical | Tagged CRISPR, designer babies, eggs and embryos, eugenics, gene therapy, genetically modification, GM babies, In Vitro Fertilization, preimplantation genetic diagnosis, Sun Yat-sen University | Comments Off

The Soda File

Posted on February 24, 2015 by Roger Gosden

“Which boy can tell me about sodium?” “Please, sir.” One of the little crawlers in the front row of the class shot his arm up, revealing a neatly-ironed white sleeve. “It’s salt, sir.” “WRONG!” the teacher roared. He thumped his … Continue reading →