[Reuters] A $37 million international collaboration by major research bodies in the United States, Britain and Africa wants to take the fruits of the genetic revolution to a continent it has largely bypassed until now.
The project, named Human Heredity and Health in Africa or “H3Africa,” will use genetic techniques developed in the West to explore [...]

In 1951, doctors removed Henrietta Lacks’s cells without her consent. More than half a century later, companies have made millions from her cell culture, while few of Lacks’s descendants can even afford insurance.
[Newsweek] The unsettling story of Henrietta Lacks begins with an everyday occurrence: a trip to the doctor’s office. The 30-year-old African-American’s 1951 diagnosis [...]

[AP] Britain is using genetic tests on some African asylum seekers in an effort to catch those who are lying about their nationality, drawing criticism from scientists and provoking outrage from rights groups.
The United Kingdom Border Agency launched the pilot project in September amid suspicions there might be a large number of asylum applicants lying [...]

[NYT] Baseball scouts are agog over Miguel Sano’s hands — strong, supple and deft. But he still had to place them under a bone-scan machine, just in case.
Sano, a shortstop roundly considered the best unsigned prospect from the talent-rich Dominican Republic, twice underwent such a procedure to help assess whether he actually is 16 years old [...]

A study involving higher-resolution genetic screening suggests that healthy embryos may be wasted during IVF.
[Technology Review] Genetic tests designed to weed out embryos that are unlikely to grow into healthy babies after in vitro fertilization (IVF) are often administered to couples receiving treatment even though it seems to have little impact on pregnancy rates. A new [...]

“We’re not mad Frankensteins working away in our laboratories to create designer babies”

Professor Tony Rutherford
British Fertility Society

 
[BBC] A gene mapping test that can test embryos for almost any inherited disease could be available in the UK within a year, say researchers.
Unlike current tests doctors do not need to know the specific gene mutation involved.
At the same [...]

[WSJ Health Blog] Can a sperm bank be sued for selling sperm that causes a child to be born with a genetic disease? Yes, a federal judge has ruled. Here’s the opinion.
The case was brought on behalf of a 13-year-old girl with fragile X syndrome, a common inherited form of mental retardation.
While the judge dismissed [...]

AUSTRALIA has rallied behind the German-born doctor at the centre of a heartless Immigration decision to deny him and his family residency because their son has Down syndrome.
Herald Sun readers and people across Australia moved by the plight of Dr Bernhard Moeller and his son, Lukas, have protested. Premier John Brumby yesterday joined the [...]

[FoxNews] Their entire genetic sequences will be posted on the internet as part of the Personal Genome Project, a Harvard-based endeavor that aims to discover the genetic basis of hundreds of diseases, conditions and even personality quirks.
The best way to find that out, some scientists believe, is to put everything out there in the open [...]

Alabama state employees will be required to undergo obesity screenings, along with other medical screenings, starting in January 2009. Those found to be obese will be allotted one year to lose their weight or face a $25 increase in their monthly insurance premiums, reported WebMD (article below).  The bioethicist in me questions what the effects of this new requirement are on [...]