Beginning of Life IssuesBryan PerkinsKyle BausmanNestor SuarezDarius Marks

Beginning of Life Issues

• artificial insemination• in vitro fertilization • surrogate motherhood• Genetic engineering• Stem cell research.

Artificial Insemination

• Artificial insemination is used in cases of infertility or impotence, a means by which a woman may become pregnant.

• The procedure has been used since the 1940s

• involves injecting collected semen into the woman's uterus and is performed under a physician's supervision

• Eighty thousand such procedures using donor sperm are performed each year, resulting in the births of thirty thousand babies. By 1990 artificial insemination was a $164 million industry involving eleven thousand private physicians, four hundred sperm banks, and more than two hundred fertility centers.

Artificial Insemination procedure & form

• Intrauterine insemination (IUI) is the most common form of artificial insemination.

• In this procedure, sperm are inserted directly into a woman's cervix, fallopian tubes, or uterus. This makes the trip shorter for the sperm and bypasses any possible obstructions. Ideally, it makes pregnancy possible where it wasn't before.

What to expect during Artificial Insemination

• Doctors will use ovulation kits, ultrasound, or blood tests to make sure an the individual is ovulating when undergoing artificial insemination.

• When ovulating, the partner will be asked to produce a sample of semen. The doctor will suggest that your partner abstain from sex for two to five days in advance to ensure a higher sperm count. The sperm must be "washed" in a laboratory within one hour of ejaculation.

Continued..

• The process of "washing" the sperm enhances the chance of fertilization and removes chemicals in the semen that may cause discomfort for the woman. It consists of liquefying the sperm at room temperature for 30 minutes. Then a harmless chemical is added to separate out the most active sperm. Then a centrifuge is used to collect the best sperm.

• The sperm are then placed in a thin tube called a catheter and introduced through the vagina and cervix into the uterus. Artificial insemination is a short, relatively painless procedure. Some women have cramping during the procedure and light bleeding afterward. Immediately after the procedure, your doctor will probably have you lie down for about 15 to 45 minutes to give the sperm a chance to get to work. After that, you can resume your usual activities.

Factors that lessen your chance for success:

• Older age of the woman• Poor egg quality• Poor sperm quality• Severe endometriosis (disorder in tissue that normally

lines with the uterus grows outside the uterus• Severe damage to fallopian tubes (usually from chronic

infection)• Blockage of fallopian tubes (IUI will usually not work in

this case)

Artificial Insemination law suit examples:

• In 1990, Julia Skolnick sued a fertility clinic and a sperm bank for negligence and medical malpractice, charging that they mistakenly substituted another man's sperm for that of her late husband. The woman, who is white, gave birth to a child with African American features, and DNA analysis confirmed that her husband, who was also white, could not have been the child's father.

• Junior Lewis Davis sued to prevent his ex-wife, Mary Sue Davis Stowe, from using or donating fertilized embryos the couple had frozen for later use. The Tennessee Supreme Court held that individuals have "procreational autonomy" and have the right to choose whether to have a child (Davis v. Davis, 842 S.W.2d 588 (Tenn. June 1992). Arthur L. Caplan, former director of the Center for Biomedical Ethics at the University of Minnesota, commented, "In this case, the court said that a man cannot be made to become a parent against his will." The Davis case raises the question of the right of a sperm donor to prevent the use of his sperm by specific individuals.

• In 1994, Mary Orsak, of Downey, California, sued the Tyler Medical Clinic, in Westwood, California, for negligence when she discovered she was HIV-positive as a result of artificial insemination with donor sperm. In at least six other cases, HIV transmission through artificial insemination has been confirmed.

• In 1990, Nancy Hart and Edward Hart, anticipating that Edward might not survive his bout with cancer and knowing that chemotherapy might leave him sterile, decided to place a sample of his sperm in a New Orleans sperm bank. Edward died in June 1990. Three months later, Nancy underwent artificial insemination using his sperm, and on June 4, 1991, their daughter Judith was born. Under Louisiana law (L.S.A.C.C. Art. 185), the state would not acknowledge Edward as the child's father because she had been born more than three hundred days after his death. As a result, Nancy was unable to receive social security survivors benefits for her daughter. She sued both the state of Louisiana and the federal government. In June 1995 Administrative Law Judge Elving Torres ruled that the Social Security Administration (SSA) must pay Judith a $10,000 lump sum and $700 per month in survivor's benefits. According to Torres, the dna evidence presented to him proved that Judith is Nancy and Edward Hart's child.

Artificial Insemination Risks

• AIDS, hepatitis, and other infectious diseases pose risks to women undergoing the procedure and their potential children. Although the American Fertility Society recommends that donors be tested for infectious diseases, the guidelines are not binding. In fact, some doctors merely request that donors answer questions about their health history and sex life, and only a handful of states require testing. This casual approach to donor screening can lead to disaster

In Vitro Fertilization

• Today, in vitro fertilization (IVF) is practically a household word. But not so long ago, it was a mysterious procedure for infertility that produced what were then known as "test-tube babies.“

• Louise Brown, born in England in 1978, was the first such baby to be conceived outside her mother's womb.

In Vitro Fertilization

• IVF involves combining eggs and sperm outside the body in a laboratory.

• Once an embryo or embryos form, they are then placed in the uterus.

• IVF is a complex and expensive procedure; only about 5% of couples with infertility seek it out.

• Since its introduction in the U.S. in 1981, IVF and other similar techniques have resulted in more than 200,000 babies.

Surrogate Motherhood

• Hand-in-hand with in vitro fertilization is surrogate motherhood

• Here’s how it works:

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2VwRucOc90

• Commercial surrogacy:

• the process in which an individual or couple pays a fee to a woman in exchange for her carrying and delivering a baby. At birth, the child is turned over to the individual or couple, either privately or through a legal adoption process.

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8RXFwz-s4Q

Genetic Engineering

• Genetic engineering is a set of technologies used to change the genetic makeup of cells, including the transfer of genes within and across species boundaries to produce improved or novel organisms. The techniques involve sophisticated manipulations of genetic material and other biologically important chemicals.

Genetic Engineering

• Genes are the chemical blueprints that determine an organism's traits. Moving genes from one organism to another transfers those traits. Through genetic engineering, organisms can be given targeted combinations of new genes—and therefore new combinations of traits—that do not occur in nature and, indeed, cannot be developed by natural means

Genetic Engineering

• Genetic engineering is therefore qualitatively different from existing breeding technologies. It is a set of technologies for altering the traits of living organisms by inserting genetic material that has been manipulated to extract it from its source and successfully insert it in functioning order in target organisms

How is DNA important in Genetic Engineering

• DNA is a ‘universal language’, meaning the genetic code means the same thing in all organisms. It would be like if all cookbooks around the world were written in a single language that everyone knew. This characteristic is critical to the success of genetic engineering. When a gene for a desirable trait is taken from one organism and inserted into another, it gives the ‘recipient’ organism the ability to express that same trait.

How is Genetic Engineering done?

• Genetic engineering, also called transformation, works by physically removing a gene from one organism and inserting it into another, giving it the ability to express the trait encoded by that gene. It is like taking a single recipe out of a cookbook and placing it into another cookbook.

How does Genetic Engineering compare to Traditional breeding?

• While genetic engineering manually moves genes from one organism to another, traditional breeding moves genes through mating, or crossing, the organisms in hopes of obtaining offspring with the desired combination of traits.

• Using the recipe analogy, traditional breeding is like taking two cookbooks and combining every other recipe from each into one cookbook. The product is a new cookbook with half of the recipes from each original book. Therefore, half of the genes in the offspring of a cross come from each parent.

How does Genetic Engineering compare to Traditional breeding?

• Traditional breeding is effective in improving traits, however, when compared with genetic engineering, it does have disadvantages. Since breeding relies on the ability to mate two organisms to move genes, trait improvement is basically limited to those traits that already exist within that species. Genetic engineering, on the other hand, physically removes the genes from one organism and places them into the other. This eliminates the need for mating and allows the movement of genes between organisms of any species. Therefore, the potential traits that can be used are virtually unlimited.

Genetic Engineering

• Breeding is also less precise than genetic engineering. In breeding, half of the genes from each parent are passed on to the offspring. This may include many undesirable genes for traits that are not wanted in the new organism. Genetic engineering, however, allows for the movement of a single, or a few, genes.

• http://www.globalchange.com/geneticengin.htm

Stem Cell Research

• There are a number of different places from which stem cells can be obtained:

• Bone marrow• Fat cells• Umbilical cord blood• Adult blood• Olfactory nerve endings• Skin cells• Human embryo

Stem Cell Research

• A stem cell is a type of cell found throughout the body of all human beings. Stem cells can reproduce themselves over a long period of time without changing. They also have the capability to produce other types of specialized cells, such as brain cells, muscle cells, and lung cells, to name but a few.

• Obtaining stem cells from a human embryo is highly unethical. There is only one way to obtain stem cells from a developing human embryo, and it involves killing the embryo. A human embryo is an innocent human being in his first stage of life. It is always and in every case morally wrong to intentionally kill an innocent human being at any point in life, including the embryonic stage of development.

Stem Cell Research

• Obtaining stem cells from fatty tissue, bone marrow, or the umbilical cord after the birth of a baby, on the other hand, may be done ethically. No harm comes to the person whose stem cells are obtained for research in such a fashion.

• Human cloning is a reality, with human cloning experiments now being conducted—not by fictional wild-eyed rebels, but by credentialed experts working in some of the world’s most respected institutions, some of which are publicly funded with tax dollars.

Stem Cell Timeline

• 1978: Stem cells were discovered in human cord blood

• 1981: First in vitro stem cell line developed from mice

• 1988: Embryonic stem cell lines created from a hamster

• 1995: First embryonic stem cell line derived from a primate

• 1997: Cloned lamb from stem cells

• 1997: Leukaemia origin found as haematopoietic stem cell, indicating possible proof of cancer stem cells

Survey Questions

Would you consider yourself familiar with stem cell research?

• Familiar – 59%

• Unfamiliar – 41%

Do you support stem cell research?

• Yes – 63%

• No – 28%

• Indifferent – 9%

Do you support expanding federal government support for medical research for stem cell research?

• Support – 72%

• Against – 28%

Do you agree with these statements?

The social, economic and personal costs of the diseases that embryonic stem cells have the potential to treat are greater than the costs associated with the destruction of embryos.

• Agree – 54%

• Disagree – 39%

• Unknown/More Info Necessary – 7%

An embryo is a developing human life, therefore it should not be destroyed for scientific or research purposes.

• Agree – 62%

• Disagree – 33%

• Unknown – 5%

Opening Prayer

• Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee. Blessed are thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Ecclesiastes 3:1

• “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven”

Petitions

• The response is “Lord hear our prayer”

• For all the unborn, we pray that they may have a chance to see and experience the life they deserve. We pray to the Lord

• For all the adults weighing out the options of beginning of life issues such as surrogate motherhood or stem cell research, we pray that they make the moral and correct decision. We pray to the Lord

• For all the medical help in the world, we pray that they continue to help make this world a better place without taking out the moral aspect of life out of the workplace. We pray to the lord

Song

• https://youtu.be/b2WzocbSd2w

Ending Prayer

• Dear Lord, we understand your message isn’t always clear to us. We know that there are things working outside our forces on inconceivable parts of our lives. Help us to focus less on the unknown, and focus more on what we know and how to better ourselves in those areas. Allow us to relax and let you take control. Let us let go and let God.

Works Cited

• http://agbiosafety.unl.edu/basic_genetics.shtml

• https://www.conquerchiari.org/subs%20only/Volume%203/Issue%203%283%29/Stem%20Cell%20Survey%203%283%29.html

• http://www.ucsusa.org/food_and_agriculture/our-failing-food-system/genetic-engineering/what-is-genetic-engineering.html#.VTZKqrC-2m4

• http://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/public-opinion-and-the-embryo-debates