A couple of stories, "PIP Breast Implants" and "Worldwide Flu Pandemic?", that I have covered in the last two months have come up again in the news recently with new developments.
Firstly in the "PIP Breast Implant" story, the BBC reported that "Lloyds TSB refunds cost of woman's faulty breast implants" (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-17361122). Lloyds paid out £3,700 to the lady "on the grounds she was sold faulty goods" (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-17361122). This is the first story I can find of someone being refunded the money that they paid for the faulty PIP breasts but the private clinics that fitted them are still refusing to pay out to the patients.
Secondly when I wrote the "Worldwide Flu Pandemic?" story there was a lot of talk at the time of closing/suspending research over risks of the H5N1 escaping and causing a flu pandemic. I then recently read in New Scientist (28th January 2012 (page 6)) that the "controversial flu research is on hold" on the basis that some "experiments could cause the H5N1 bird flu virus to spread more easily." It then went on to say "US bio-security experts say some details must be withheld, in case bioterrorists get hold of them." I'm not so sure about how big the risk of bioterrorism is though.
However, in the Telegraph it was reported "Scientists clone cashmere goats in bid to increase wool production" (http://tinyurl.com/7cztex2). This is a goat that was cloned in India to increase the production of "pashmina wool, or cashmere" (http://tinyurl.com/7cztex2). "Noori was cloned by Dr Riaz Ahmad Shah, a veterinarian in the animal biotechnology centre of Sher-i-Kashmir University and took two years to clone Noori, using the relatively new 'handmade' cloning technique involving only a microscope and a steady hand" (http://tinyurl.com/7cztex2). This is only one in a list of animals that have been cloned, but what about the ethics of cloning?
Firstly in the "PIP Breast Implant" story, the BBC reported that "Lloyds TSB refunds cost of woman's faulty breast implants" (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-17361122). Lloyds paid out £3,700 to the lady "on the grounds she was sold faulty goods" (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-17361122). This is the first story I can find of someone being refunded the money that they paid for the faulty PIP breasts but the private clinics that fitted them are still refusing to pay out to the patients.
Secondly when I wrote the "Worldwide Flu Pandemic?" story there was a lot of talk at the time of closing/suspending research over risks of the H5N1 escaping and causing a flu pandemic. I then recently read in New Scientist (28th January 2012 (page 6)) that the "controversial flu research is on hold" on the basis that some "experiments could cause the H5N1 bird flu virus to spread more easily." It then went on to say "US bio-security experts say some details must be withheld, in case bioterrorists get hold of them." I'm not so sure about how big the risk of bioterrorism is though.
However, in the Telegraph it was reported "Scientists clone cashmere goats in bid to increase wool production" (http://tinyurl.com/7cztex2). This is a goat that was cloned in India to increase the production of "pashmina wool, or cashmere" (http://tinyurl.com/7cztex2). "Noori was cloned by Dr Riaz Ahmad Shah, a veterinarian in the animal biotechnology centre of Sher-i-Kashmir University and took two years to clone Noori, using the relatively new 'handmade' cloning technique involving only a microscope and a steady hand" (http://tinyurl.com/7cztex2). This is only one in a list of animals that have been cloned, but what about the ethics of cloning?
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