Vatican toughens stance on embryo research

sea-maid submitted, created time 3 weeks 5 days (www.nature.com)

The Roman Catholic Church has reaffirmed its opposition to embryonic stem cell research in a document that updates its twenty-year-old position on biomedical research and reproductive medicine.

The most significant change is that the Church rejects the idea that scientists who work with tissues derived from stem cells or fetuses are blameless so long as they had no part in the creation of the cell line or tissue sample

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Helping the Embryo Implant: A New Role for One Type of Immune Cell

piggy submitted, created time 1 month 1 week (www.sciencedaily.com)

One of the most critical stages in establishing a pregnancy is the implantation of the embryo in the wall of the uterus. Although the accumulation of immune cells known as DCs has been observed in the uterus after fertilization and prior to implantation, their function was not known

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Gene testing of embryos needs guidance

sea-maid submitted, created time 1 month 2 weeks (www.nature.com)

Couples might soon use the technologies sold by personal-genomics companies to choose the genetic make-up of their children.

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