China
Africa
Explore chapters and articles related to this topic
Applications of Nanotechnology in Reproductive Medicine
Published in Tuan Vo-Dinh, Nanotechnology in Biology and Medicine, 2017
Celine Jones, Natalia Barkalina, Sarah Francis, Lien Davidson, Kevin Coward
The field of nanomedicine is a rapidly developing area of research in which nanoparticles and nanodevices are utilized in diagnostic and therapeutic processes. In this respect, nanomedicine has a clear potential to revolutionize clinical diagnostics and therapy for a range of pathologies. However, the complexity of the human system makes developments in this area extremely challenging. While the first attempt to synthesize nanoparticles dates back to the 1950s (Petros and DeSimone, 2010), it is only over the last two decades or so that nanoparticles have been increasingly deployed with the hope of revolutionizing research tools, diagnostic techniques, and therapeutic approaches in the medical sciences (Salata, 2004; Koopmans and Aggeli, 2010). Among a host of other applications, nanoparticles have been used for the targeted delivery of anticancer therapies for improved pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics (Albanese et al., 2012), and also as contrast agents for imaging and diagnosis, with a variety of adaptions tailored to facilitate target specificity, cellular uptake, and cargo release (Solaro, 2008; Gu et al., 2011). This chapter focuses on the use of nanoparticles within reproductive medicine. Further description and evaluation of the use of nanoparticles in other medical science areas can be found elsewhere in this book. Our intention here is to focus predominantly upon reproductive medicine.
The Natural Lottery and our Genetic Endowments
Published in Oscar H. Gandy, Coming to Terms with Chance, 2016
Concerns about applied genetics have arisen quite rapidly in regard to developments in reproductive medicine and in vitro fertilization. The use of genetic testing of embryos prior to implantation raises a number of pragmatic and ethical issues. Many women, or parents who are concerned about having a child with a genetic illness, either because there is a family history, or because of increased risk estimated on the basis of the parents’ genetic status, may utilize early screening to determine whether any of the fertilized embryos has an elevated risk potential (King 2008). These prospective parents can choose to go forward with one, or none of the of the candidate embryos. Given the history of eugenics, there is certainly a basis for being concerned about the kinds of pressures that prospective parents might be subject to in order to increase their willingness to participate in genetic testing early in the process.
Law, expertise and public participation
Published in Emilie Cloatre, Martyn Pickersgill, Knowledge, Technology and Law, 2014
Emilie Cloatre, Martyn Pickersgill
Repromed introduced itself as a website for anyone in the UK interested in reproductive medicine. Like many other patient support groups, Repromed was open to anyone, at any stage of their treatment, offering an ideal platform to access to information about treatment techniques, clinics abroad, and other patients’ experiences at no or little cost (some patient groups may require a small subscription fee), quickly and anonymously from home. On the home page, there was a link to the discussion area; there, the forum titles were listed. Each topic involved a question, or a brief introduction about the inquiry; for example: ‘Is anyone currently trying or pregnant with a donor conceived baby?’ Forum administrators and moderators, who had the highest level of control over forum content, could turn forum features on and off, ban and remove users, edit and delete posts, and create users and groups. This gave them some control over the postings, although it might be rather difficult to monitor and manage such a large and continuously evolving content. By the time that I visited the website in 2006, users had posted 27,829 messages, on 704 topics, in 15 forums. The age range of the other 28 users was from 28 to 43. The average age was 35 and there were two modes (the most frequently occurring age in the distribution) at 35 and 40. Although more than 5,000 postings were scanned, the final sample included 900 postings sent between 13 July 2005 and 26 April 2007.
Sunni Islamic perspectives on lab-grown sperm and eggs derived from stem cells – in vitro gametogenesis (IVG)
Published in The New Bioethics, 2023
Gamal Serour, Mohammed Ghaly, Shaikh Mohd Saifuddeen, Ayaz Anwar, Noor Munirah Isa, Alexis Heng Boon Chin
IVG is useful for scientists, especially in reproductive medicine for studying human infertility, such as the factors affecting germ cells development. In future, it may be developed into a new assisted reproductive technology (ART) that can help infertile couples who are unable to produce functional gametes naturally due to various medical reasons such as chemotherapy (Bredenoord and Hyun 2017). Despite such medical potential, producing human gametes in vitro raises ethical questions as to whether it is ethical to develop gametes in the laboratory. There are still numerous technical obstacles and safety issues to be overcome in IVG and it has not yet been tested in humans (Bredenoord and Hyun 2017, Yang and Ng 2021, Yoshino et al.2021, Zhou et al.2016). However, it is highly plausible that this will be realized soon, given the rapid pace of scientific progress in recent years. Therefore, now is the time for researchers to start discussing the ethical implications of IVG (Ishii and Saitou 2017), and whether this technology will be applied to humans in the near or distant future. Previous experiences have taught us that an international bioethical discourse is necessary so that various stakeholders, including scientists, policymakers and the general public, can make timely and informed decisions that are in alignment with their own moral worldviews.
North American surrogate reproductive mobilities incited by cross-border reproductive care
Published in Mobilities, 2020
Cross-border reproductive care entails the geographic mobility of intended parents whose global travel has been traced by social scientists working in Southeast Asia and Australia (Whittaker 2018), the Middle East (Inhorn 2015), Europe (Zanini 2011), and North America (Speier 2016). Within the past several years, India, Thailand, Mexico, Cambodia, and Nepal shut their borders to foreign intended parents. Given its highly unregulated, free market model of reproductive medicine, the United States remains one of the last ‘frontiers’ of cross-border reproductive care. International intended parents from 79 countries flock to the United States in search of assisted reproductive technologies. The Center for Disease Control estimates that 1 million cycles of IVF were performed for non-US residents between 2006 and 2013. In 2013, the American Society for Reproductive Medicine estimated that 4% of all IVF cycles were for non-US patients. The Center for Disease Control estimates that 1 million cycles of IVF were performed for non-US residents between 2006 and 2013. However, the high cost of assisted reproductive technologies in the United States does hinder access to most of the world’s population. It is only the very wealthy, elite or struggling middle class who are able to travel to the United States, since one surrogacy cycle may cost upwards from USD $100,000.
Offer, consumption and freedom of information in the context of assisted reproduction in the digital age: problematizing contractual guiding principles
Published in Tapuya: Latin American Science, Technology and Society, 2020
Eliane Portes Vargas, Luciane da Costa Moás
The relationship between the State and reproductive medicine has historically determined the specific enactment of public health AR policies in Brazil. As a sensitive issue for society as a whole, it should be included, at least theoretically, in the list of concerns that the State manages, intervenes and regulates, when considering legal frameworks such as the 1988 Constitution; and yet, this remains to be observed in practice. Within current public health policy there is no public debate on the consumption of reproductive technologies, which is reflected in the incipient way of addressing this issue by governmental and non-governmental bodies. In private networks, the lack of public debates receives scarce interest. At stake is not an issue of whether men and women have the right to have children or not, but of asking about how to determine imperatives that apply to its realization – whatever their conditions may be – and that govern conduct, behavior, practices and emotions. Discussions on the topic display gaps on the use of medical technologies that are reproductive, as well as of normative aspects involved in contracts involving reproductive decisions. Considering the large investments in research in the biomedical area, it seems relevant to know and better reflect on the guiding principles of legal decisions.