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We mustn't succumb to climate fatigue
EDITORIAL
Should donated sperm be just another product? A sperm bank is being sued on the premise that sperm can be guaranteed like anything else
So will Donovan vs Idant Laboratories open the floodgates? It seems unlikely. New York’s product liability laws are highly unusual in that they consider donor sperm to be a product just like any other. Most other US states grant special status to blood products and body parts, including sperm. In these states, donor sperm is not considered a “product” in the usual sense, despite the fact that it is tested, processed, packaged, catalogued, marketed and sold. Similarly, European Union product liability law could not be used in this way. Even if this lawsuit is an isolated case, it still raises some difficult questions. First,
BRITTANY DONOVAN was born 13 years ago in Pennsylvania. Her biological father was sperm donor G738. Unbeknownst to Brittany’s mother, G738 carried a genetic defect known as fragile X – a mutation that all female children “Nobody would deny that sperm with fragile X should be screened out, but born from his sperm will inherit, and which what about more subtle defects?” causes mental impairment, behavioural problems and atypical social development. Last week, Brittany was given the green light to what lengths should sperm banks go to to sue the sperm bank, Idant Laboratories of ensure they are supplying defect-free sperm? New York, under the state’s product liability As we learn more and more about human laws (see page 4). These laws were designed to genetics, there is a growing list of tests that allow consumers to seek compensation from could be performed. Nobody would deny that companies whose products are defective and donor sperm carrying the fragile X mutation cause harm. Nobody expected them to be should be screened out – and there is a test applied to donor sperm. that can do so – but what about more subtle Thousands of people in the US have defects, such as language impairment or a purchased sperm from sperm banks on the susceptibility to early Alzheimer’s? promise that the donor’s history has been Donovan vs Idant Laboratories also serves carefully scrutinised and his sample rigorously as a reminder of the nature of the trade in tested, only for some of them to discover human gametes. Sperm bank catalogues that they have been sold a batch of bad seed. can give the impression that babies are as Some parents learn about genetic anomalies guaranteed as dishwashers. The Donovans after their disabled child is born and they are entitled to their day in court, but in press the sperm bank for more information. allowing the product liability laws to be used Others realise when they contact biological in this way, the legal system is not doing much half-siblings who have the same disorder. to dispel that notion. ■
We mustn’t succumb to climate fatigue THE news on climate change continues to get grimmer. Till now, the official estimates of sea level rise have not included any contribution from the melting of Antarctic ice. It is becoming horribly clear that this is a serious omission. As we report first-hand from Antarctica on page 34, there are signs that the West Antarctic ice sheet is more vulnerable to climate change than we thought. It is difficult to translate the findings into a prediction of what will happen over the next century, but a melting Antarctic can only add to the rises in sea level already predicted. With nothing but bad news around, the message that we need to do something quickly may seem boringly predictable – but that would be the worst possible excuse for ignoring the problem. ■
Watch the watchers THOSE who feel their privacy is being invaded by CCTV may feel a twinge of sympathy – or perhaps Schadenfreude – for the CCTV operators themselves. There is now a CCTV camera that monitors people who are employed to watch CCTV footage, just to make sure they are doing their job properly. This, though, raises the question of who is monitoring this extra footage, and how we can be sure they are being vigilant enough. Clearly what we need is CCTV that watches the CCTV that watches the CCTV… ■
What’s hot on NewScientist.com WILDLIFE International garden photographer of the year See beautiful shots from the finalists, including a close-up of a tiger moth, the sharp spines of an agave, and a butterfly caught in a rain shower... SPACE CSI: Red Planet? In what is planned to be the first DNA analysis to be done on another planet, Harvard researchers hope to send a DNA sequencer to Mars in the next decade to hunt for signs of alien life.
SOCIETY More scientists who put their lives on the line Our recent article on researchers who became their own test subjects obviously piqued people’s imagination – we had a flood of responses naming others who took their science well beyond the realms of personal safety. ENVIRONMENT Bug eats electricity, farts biogas Wind and solar energy output is variable and doesn’t match peak demand. Feeding
extra electricity to a microorganism that uses the energy to convert carbon dioxide into methane offers a carbon-neutral way to turn the surplus power into a valuable fuel. COSMOLOGY What would it look like to fall into a black hole? Plunging into a black hole might not be good for your health, but at least the view would be spectacular. A new simulation not only shows what you might see on your way towards the black hole’s
crushing central singularity – it could also help physicists understand the apparently paradoxical fate of matter and energy in a black hole. BLOG Make the world a better place by uninventing something If you had a time machine and could visit the past to extinguish a technology before it caught on, which invention would you get rid of? For breaking news, video and online debate visit www.NewScientist.com
11 April 2009 | NewScientist | 3
Should donated sperm be just another product? A sperm bank is being sued on the premise that sperm can be guaranteed like anything else
So will Donovan vs Idant Laboratories open the floodgates? It seems unlikely. New York’s product liability laws are highly unusual in that they consider donor sperm to be a product just like any other. Most other US states grant special status to blood products and body parts, including sperm. In these states, donor sperm is not considered a “product” in the usual sense, despite the fact that it is tested, processed, packaged, catalogued, marketed and sold. Similarly, European Union product liability law could not be used in this way. Even if this lawsuit is an isolated case, it still raises some difficult questions. First,
BRITTANY DONOVAN was born 13 years ago in Pennsylvania. Her biological father was sperm donor G738. Unbeknownst to Brittany’s mother, G738 carried a genetic defect known as fragile X – a mutation that all female children “Nobody would deny that sperm with fragile X should be screened out, but born from his sperm will inherit, and which what about more subtle defects?” causes mental impairment, behavioural problems and atypical social development. Last week, Brittany was given the green light to what lengths should sperm banks go to to sue the sperm bank, Idant Laboratories of ensure they are supplying defect-free sperm? New York, under the state’s product liability As we learn more and more about human laws (see page 4). These laws were designed to genetics, there is a growing list of tests that allow consumers to seek compensation from could be performed. Nobody would deny that companies whose products are defective and donor sperm carrying the fragile X mutation cause harm. Nobody expected them to be should be screened out – and there is a test applied to donor sperm. that can do so – but what about more subtle Thousands of people in the US have defects, such as language impairment or a purchased sperm from sperm banks on the susceptibility to early Alzheimer’s? promise that the donor’s history has been Donovan vs Idant Laboratories also serves carefully scrutinised and his sample rigorously as a reminder of the nature of the trade in tested, only for some of them to discover human gametes. Sperm bank catalogues that they have been sold a batch of bad seed. can give the impression that babies are as Some parents learn about genetic anomalies guaranteed as dishwashers. The Donovans after their disabled child is born and they are entitled to their day in court, but in press the sperm bank for more information. allowing the product liability laws to be used Others realise when they contact biological in this way, the legal system is not doing much half-siblings who have the same disorder. to dispel that notion. ■
We mustn’t succumb to climate fatigue THE news on climate change continues to get grimmer. Till now, the official estimates of sea level rise have not included any contribution from the melting of Antarctic ice. It is becoming horribly clear that this is a serious omission. As we report first-hand from Antarctica on page 34, there are signs that the West Antarctic ice sheet is more vulnerable to climate change than we thought. It is difficult to translate the findings into a prediction of what will happen over the next century, but a melting Antarctic can only add to the rises in sea level already predicted. With nothing but bad news around, the message that we need to do something quickly may seem boringly predictable – but that would be the worst possible excuse for ignoring the problem. ■
Watch the watchers THOSE who feel their privacy is being invaded by CCTV may feel a twinge of sympathy – or perhaps Schadenfreude – for the CCTV operators themselves. There is now a CCTV camera that monitors people who are employed to watch CCTV footage, just to make sure they are doing their job properly. This, though, raises the question of who is monitoring this extra footage, and how we can be sure they are being vigilant enough. Clearly what we need is CCTV that watches the CCTV that watches the CCTV… ■
What’s hot on NewScientist.com WILDLIFE International garden photographer of the year See beautiful shots from the finalists, including a close-up of a tiger moth, the sharp spines of an agave, and a butterfly caught in a rain shower... SPACE CSI: Red Planet? In what is planned to be the first DNA analysis to be done on another planet, Harvard researchers hope to send a DNA sequencer to Mars in the next decade to hunt for signs of alien life.
SOCIETY More scientists who put their lives on the line Our recent article on researchers who became their own test subjects obviously piqued people’s imagination – we had a flood of responses naming others who took their science well beyond the realms of personal safety. ENVIRONMENT Bug eats electricity, farts biogas Wind and solar energy output is variable and doesn’t match peak demand. Feeding
extra electricity to a microorganism that uses the energy to convert carbon dioxide into methane offers a carbon-neutral way to turn the surplus power into a valuable fuel. COSMOLOGY What would it look like to fall into a black hole? Plunging into a black hole might not be good for your health, but at least the view would be spectacular. A new simulation not only shows what you might see on your way towards the black hole’s
crushing central singularity – it could also help physicists understand the apparently paradoxical fate of matter and energy in a black hole. BLOG Make the world a better place by uninventing something If you had a time machine and could visit the past to extinguish a technology before it caught on, which invention would you get rid of? For breaking news, video and online debate visit www.NewScientist.com
11 April 2009 | NewScientist | 3