A new wonder material that can generate hydrogen, produce clean water and even create energy. (Nanowerk)

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has advised the government that there is no evidence the advanced forms of IVF were unsafe. The fertility regulator’s public consultation also showed “general support” for the idea as the benefits outweighed the risks. (BBC)

According to China’s health ministry, 336 million abortions have been performed since the country instituted its one-child policy in 1971. How do researchers count abortions? (Slate)

Genetic testing may help identify women at risk for certain types of breast cancer, according to a new study. (U.S. News and World Report)

In a report released today, the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues concluded that the federal government would have to take multiple steps before anthrax vaccine trials with children could be ethically considered. (Eurekalert)

Research led by a biology professor in the School of Science at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) has uncovered a method to produce retinal cells from regenerative human stem cells without the use of animal products, proteins or other foreign substances, which historically have limited the application of stem cells to treat disease and other human developmental disorders. (Medical Xpress)

In opening statements in court on Monday, prosecutors charged that a doctor who operated a women’s health clinic here killed seven viable fetuses by plunging scissors into their necks and “snipping” their spinal cords and was also responsible for the death of a pregnant woman in his care. (New York Times)

While poverty and under-education continue to dampen contraception use in Nepal, exacerbating the country’s efforts to reduce maternal and child mortality rates, researchers say another, more surprising factor may be more intractable: Deeply held cultural preferences for sons over daughters. (Science Daily)

This Ethics, Law, and Humanities Committee position paper, endorsed by the American Academy of Neurology, Child Neurology Society, and American Neurological Association, focuses on various implications of pediatric neuroenhancement and outlines discussion points in responding to neuroenhancement requests from parents or adolescents. (Neurology)

BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics said the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota has agreed to conduct a clinical trial of the company’s adult stem cell treatment for ALS. (Reuters)

Bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells from third party donors found effective, safe in treating PGF. (Eurekalert)

Today, our body temperature can be scanned from a distance quickly and simply. For a busy Mom with a sick child, this is a great idea. Just pointing a sensor at a spot of skin and obtaining an ‘instant’ reading is a real advance from the intrusive glass thermometers and touch scanners of yesterday. (Forbes)

Margaret DiSantis always wanted a child. But the Chicago advertising executive never expected she would have to sell her house, drop out of business school and move back in with her parents to tackle costs associated with hiring the surrogate mother who delivered a healthy baby girl on her behalf earlier this year. (Reuters)

A unique new cancer treatment uses gene therapy to induce a cancer-fighting immune response whose intensity can then be controlled with a pill. The combination could help tailor treatment to a patient’s individual response. (MIT Technology Review)

In an article published this week in the journal Drug Delivery and Translational Research, researchers from Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and the Georgia Institute of Technology have reported the development of a technique that assists in identifying tumors from normal brain tissue during surgery by staining tumor cells blue. (Medical Xpress)

University of Virgina law and medical schools, the American Society of Human Genetics, and the National Society of Genetic Counselors
Third National Conference on Genetics, Ethics, and the Law
May 22-23, 2013
Charlottesville, VA

For more information and registration, see University of Virginia School of Law.

Healthy postmenopausal women shouldn’t be discouraged from pursuing pregnancy using donor eggs or embryos, one of the world’s largest organizations of reproductive medicine says. (The Montreal Gazette)

Leading bioethics researchers at a discussion forum have voiced their support for society to accept the use of drugs that enhance cognition. (BMJ, by subscription only)

Government ministers and the NHS ignored warnings about persistently high death rates in hospitals which could have claimed the lives of up to 20,000 patients, a top health adviser has said. (Huffington Post)

The North Dakota Senate approved what would be the most restrictive abortion law in the United States on Friday, a measure banning the procedure in most cases once a fetal heartbeat can be detected, as early as six weeks. (Reuters)