Richard Norris, 37, opened his eyes after a marathon surgery to find a University of Maryland transplant team had given him a new face.  Norris, who’s first request when he awoke from the surgery was a mirror, received a reconstructed nose, chin, lips, teeth and underlying muscles. A full composite maxillo-facial transplant also includes subcutaneous [Sign in to read the full article...]

Chinese officials announced on March 23 that they plan to phase out recovering the organs from death-row inmates within the next five years and replace it with a national organ donation system, the Xinhua news agency reported.  “The pledge to abolish organ donation from condemned prisoners represents the resolve of the government,” said Huang Jiefu, [Sign in to read the full article...]

A controversial scientific conference which featured pro-embryonic stem cell researchers and was to be sponsored by the Vatican’s Pontifical Academy for Life has been cancelled, just one month before it was to take place.  The 3rd International Congress on Responsible Stem Cell Research was scheduled to take place at the Vatican April 25-28 and conclude [Sign in to read the full article...]

Researchers at the University of Kansas report they have transformed stem cells isolated from women’s ovaries into viable-looking eggs, a provocative development which they say may suggest new ways to treat infertility.    Biologists have long held that women are born with a finite supply of eggs that gets depleted with age.  The experiment,  published in [Sign in to read the full article...]

The need for corneas for transplantation is growing due to the fastest growing segment of the American population–people over age 50.  To address the anticipated future demand, researchers at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland (CWRU), began a study this month that could result in doubling the time donated corneas are accepted [Sign in to read the full article...]