[extropy-chat] Twins born from 12-year-old embryos

[Natasha Vita-More]

At 04:44 PM 2/12/04 -0800, Johnius wrote:

>Twins born from 12-year-old embryos
>----------
>   [Ananova]
>"An Israeli women has given birth to healthy twins from 12-year-old frozen
>embryos.It is the world's longest period of freezing before a successful
>pregnancy, her fertility doctor has claimed." (02/04/04)
>http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_862677.html

This is very good news.  But the solo egg is still not strong enough.  Here 
is a different take on the freezing of eggs alone:

"The technique has its critics. From a technical perspective, IVF expert 
Professor Lord Robert Winston warned that there could be dangers in the 
technique. "Work in mice has shown that chromosomes which carry the genes 
can be broken up by egg freezing," he said. From a moral perspective, Nuala 
Scarisbrick, trustee of the charity Life, commented that "the whole idea 
makes babies seem like a commodity, something for when it is convenient, 
when a woman sees a suitable window in her life, when she has saved up 
enough money." And from a parenting perspective, wrote Sue Arnold in the 
Independent, being an older mother is no fun." ~ Guardian, Oct 11; BBC, Oct 
11; Telegraph (UK), Oct 12; Independent, Oct 12

This view puts the field of biotechnology for infertility or freezing 
embryos shows a narrow line of thinking in some segments of society, but 
not most thank goodness.

Natasha

Natasha Vita-More

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