Bad idea in the first place, there is no need for another commission, they just don't need to do it.
UK scientists want human-animal tests monitored
British scientists say a new expert body should be formed to regulate experiments mixing animal and human DNA to make sure no medical or ethical boundaries are crossed.
In a report issued on Friday, scientists at the nation's Academy of Medical Sciences said a government organization is needed to advise whether certain tests on animals that use human DNA should be pursued.
Tighter regulation isn't needed for most such experiments, said Martin Bobrow, chair of the group that wrote the report. "But there are a small number of future experiments, which could approach social and ethically sensitive areas which should have an extra layer of scrutiny," he told reporters in London.
The group analyzed evidence from academics, the U.K. government, animal welfare groups and others. An independent survey was also conducted to gather public opinion. It found people were mostly supportive as long as the work might contribute to the development of medical treatments that would be widely available.
Scientists have long been swapping animal and human DNA. Numerous tests on mice with human genes for brain, bone and heart disorders are already under way and experiments on goats implanted with a human gene are also being done to study blood-clotting problems.
Controversy erupted several years ago in Britain after scientists announced plans to make human embryos with the nucleus removed from cow and rabbit eggs. Authorities allowed limited experiments and ruled the embryos should not be allowed to develop for more than two weeks.
In the latest report, Bobrow and colleagues concluded some experiments should only be allowed under additional monitoring from the new expert body and that a very small number of experiments should not be done at all.
Among experimentation that might spark concern are those where human brain cells might change animal brains, those that could lead to the fertilization of human eggs in animals and any modifications of animals that might create attributes considered uniquely human, like facial features, skin or speech.
Some disagree. "We think some of these should be done, but they should be done in an open way to maintain public confidence," said Robin Lovell-Badge, head of stem cell biology and developmental genetics at Britain's Medical Research Council, one of the expert group members. He said experiments injecting human brain cells into the brains of rats might help develop new stroke treatments or that growing human skin on mice could further understanding of skin cancer.
Other experts said such issues needed to be debated in Parliament and that any advisory body must have a diverse membership. "The danger is you could get scientists effectively regulating scientists," said Dr. Peter Saunders, chief executive of the Christian Medical Fellowship, a group that opposes the creation of human and animal embryos. He said most experiments on animals with human DNA were OK, but that any tests that aim to enhance animals with human material are not acceptable.
Bobrow warned altering animal brains with human brain cells shouldn't be done just yet. "The closer (an animal brain) is to a human brain, the harder it is to predict what might happen," he said.
Some members of the public surveyed about such potential experiments agreed. "I don't have a problem with it until it gets to the brain," said one respondent to an independent survey done for the Academy of Medical Sciences. "Bits to do with memories, that would be too far — it's a human thing to have a memory."
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Online:
Academy of Medical Sciences: http://www.acmedsci.ac.uk
http://health.yahoo.net/news/s/ap/eu_med_animal_human_experiments
Parent complains after children were searched at pool
LANCASTER, Ohio -- About 65 children attending summer camp at the Robert K. Fox Family Y were told Tuesday to lower their bathing suits so counselors could visually inspect the suits after feces was found in the swimming pool.
That upset parent Ibrahim Y. Haroon, who said his 9-year-old son came home traumatized. He filed a complaint with the Lancaster police.
Now the Y is investigating what happened and reviewing its policies, Executive Director Mike Lieber said today.
Feces also was found in the pool on Monday and two other times within the last couple of weeks, he said. That could sicken the campers and the counselors in the water with them, he said.
The campers are in the fourth to sixth grades.
After the fourth occurrence on Tuesday, counselors asked the children if anyone was sick or had a problem. No one came forward. So, the child-care director who supervises the counselors directed them to take the children two by two into the girls and boys locker rooms and shower areas, require them to turn around facing away from the counselors, and lower their swim shorts for inspection, Lieber said.
The children then pulled up their bathing suits and showered, he said.
Haroon didn't like what he heard when his son came home.
"My child was very upset and seemed a bit traumatized," he said today. "His exact statement was it was very uncomfortable."
Haroon filed a police report and also talked to Lieber.
"I'm not sure that there was a criminal violation, but there was definitely a violation of his civil rights," he said. "Why weren't the parents notified before? If a search was going to be done, a child, like an adult, would have a right to due process."
Lieber said he reported the matter to Job and Family Services, which licenses the Y to run its school-age-child summer camp program, and was told that it would have been better to put the children, one by one, behind a privacy shield and have them hand out their suits to be inspected.
The inspections provided no clues to which child had diarrhea, Lieber said.
The pool was thoroughly cleaned and reopened yesterday, he said.
http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2011/07/21/pool-kids.html?sid=101
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