Word: vitro
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...John's wort came into its own in 1984, when the German government classified it as an MAO inhibitor, on the basis of in-vitro studies, and approved its use as a mild, natural antidepressant. Sales took off both in Germany, where St. John's wort easily outsells prescription drugs like Prozac, and in the U.S., where concoctions of the herb, sold under such labels as Mood Support and Brighten Up, became flagships of the booming alternative- medicine industry. Before last year's warnings that St. John's wort could interfere with other medications--notably AIDS treatments, antibiotics, cardiac drugs...
...When not killing, raping or pillaging, men have traditionally lain down with women to fertilize eggs. Today, in-vitro unions via withdrawals from well-stocked banks of iced sperm are breaking up that monopoly. The deciphering of dna and the specter of prêt-à-porter people from laboratories is also making the reproduction defense a 10-kg anchor on a supertanker...
Each of these sources, however, is problematic. Bone marrow and the brain are difficult or painful to get to surgically. And cells from in-vitro embryos and aborted fetuses pose ethical and political problems. Indeed, President Bush is soon likely to make right-to-lifers happy by reimposing a ban on using federal funds for research on such tissues. (Another possible source of stem cells announced last week--the placentas of pregnant women--avoids these problems but hasn't been confirmed...
Cloning people as a fertility treatment strikes me as wrongheaded. Certainly the information in your article strongly suggests that a woman who has trouble getting pregnant through in-vitro fertilization will have no better luck if the embryo used is a clone. People who want a baby could consider adoption. Certainly there are more than enough orphans in this world who would benefit from having a family and a home. JAIME GARY BRAUN Naucalpan, Mexico...
...When in vitro fertilization, sperm banks and surrogate motherhood first arrived on the scene, they all raised ethical questions. And while not everyone is satisfied with the answers, these methods for combatting infertility are being used widely today. Cloning is destined to become just another reproductive technique. Parents of clones will learn the same timeless lesson other parents have learned: each child is an individual. LYNNE LYBERGER Livermore, Calif...