The state of research into children with cancer across Europe: new policies for a new decade.

Overcoming childhood cancers is critically dependent on the state of research. Understanding how, with whom and what the research community is doing with childhood cancers is essential for ensuring the evidence-based policies at national and European level to support children, their families and researchers. As part of the European Union funded EUROCANCERCOMS project to study and integrate cancer communications across Europe, we have carried out new research into the state of research in childhood cancers. We are very grateful for all the support we have received from colleagues in the European paediatric oncology community, and in particular from Edel Fitzgerald and Samira Essiaf from the SIOP Europe office. This report and the evidence-based policies that arise from it come at a important junction for Europe and its Member States. They provide a timely reminder that research into childhood cancers is critical and needs sustainable long-term support.

Better, and 'healthier' decision making through information technology: conference report from the Health 2.0 conference in San Francisco, September 2011.

San Francisco served as the host city for the 5th Annual Health 2.0 conference on 25-27 September 2011, which gathered more than 1,500 people interested and actively involved in innovation in health care through information technology. The author attended this conference and in this paper is presenting key insights, concepts, and news from the cutting edge of Health 2.0: from new tools to redesign medical data; to synergistic interactions between web 2.0 tools and public health; to the use of the internet as a positive catalyst for behavioral change to improve health and lifestyle; to direct to consumer genetic testing that drive a new, community-driven approach to research and to electronic health records adoption and data liberation. The main thread linking all of these initiatives is a participatory approach to health that involves all relevant stakeholders: from patients and their families, to physicians and health professionals, to nurses and caregivers, to insurance and other health providers, working together toward the common aim of a better health care.

Fearing a non-existing Minotaur? The ethical challenges of research on cytoplasmic hybrid embryos.

In this paper we address the ethical challenges of research on cytoplasmic hybrid embryos, or "cybrids". The controversial pronouncement of the UK's Human Embryology and Fertilisation Authority of September 2007 on the permissibility of this area of research is the starting point of our discussion, and we argue in its favour. By a rigorous definition of the entities at issue, we show how the terms "chimera" and "hybrid" are improper in the case of cybrids, and how their use can bias the debate creating moral prejudices. After analysing the scientific aspects of cybrids research and sketching out current alternatives, we enter the ethical debate, starting from the premise that research on early human embryos is ethically permissible under some circumstances. We emphasise how research on cybrids has positive consequences in terms of scientific and therapeutic applications, since it allows the derivation of human embryonic stem cells genetically tailored to the somatic cell donor. Such cell lines offer a unique in vitro model both for studies of human pathogenesis and for drug screening and discovery. Research on cybrids also circumvents the problem of the scarcity of human oocytes and their ethically dubious donation. Finally, we object to the most common arguments against cybrids research, that is, moral repugnance, the slippery slope argument, the appeal to "nature", and the unfair distribution of economical resources.

Reproductive cloning in humans and therapeutic cloning in primates: is the ethical debate catching up with the recent scientific advances?

After years of failure, in November 2007 primate embryonic stem cells were derived by somatic cellular nuclear transfer, also known as therapeutic cloning. The first embryo transfer for human reproductive cloning purposes was also attempted in 2006, albeit with negative results. These two events force us to think carefully about the possibility of human cloning which is now much closer to becoming a reality. In this paper we tackle this issue from two sides, first summarising what scientists have achieved so far, then discussing some of the ethical arguments in favour and against human cloning which are debated in the context of policy making and public consultation. Therapeutic cloning as a means to improve and save lives has uncontroversial moral value. As to human reproductive cloning, we consider and assess some common objections and failing to see them as conclusive. We do recognise, though, that there will be problems at the level of policy and regulation that might either impair the implementation of human reproductive cloning or make its accessibility restricted in a way that could become difficult to justify on moral grounds. We suggest using the time still available before human reproductive cloning is attempted successfully to create policies and institutions that can offer clear directives on its legitimate applications on the basis of solid arguments, coherent moral principles, and extensive public consultation.