US – Saturday, March 20
National
Final push is on for health care reform
Democrats in the House of Representatives on Thursday predicted weekend passage of a sweeping health care overhaul that budget analysts said would cut the U.S. deficit over 10 years and dramatically expand health coverage.
 
International
Pakistan charges U.S. 5 with terror
A Pakistani court formally charged five young Americans of plotting terrorism in the country yesterday, their lawyer said, in a case that has raised alarm over the danger posed by militants using the Internet.
 
The Word
James admits to ‘poor judgment’
Sandra Bullock is having quite a week with her dogs. On Thursday, husband Jesse James released a statement to People magazine about the affair rumors swirling around the couple, stating that a “vast majority” of the allegations are “untrue and unfounded,” but says, “It’s because of my poor judgment that I deserve everything bad that is coming my way.
 
My Entertainment
THE WEEK THAT WAS
This week, the news community ate up the story of world’s fattest mom Donna Simpson — who, reports claim, actually hopes to increase her already ample girth to claim a new record.
 
Business
‘Free’ ad leads to fraud suit
NEW YORK. A Wisconsin college student is suing credit firm Experian — the brains behind the ubiquitous FreeCreditReport.com jingles — for fraudulent advertising after she inadvertently signed up for a monthly $14.95 monitoring service.
 
My Travel
The key to Kyoto
Kyoto’s temples and Geisha culture are legendary, but this city is no slouch when it comes to mixing in a large slice of contemporary, too.
 
Published 21:43, January the 12th, 2009
Send
 

Prenatal autism test spurs ethics debate

1944

The year Asperger syndrome was first described. Owing to the condition’s late discovery, some experts think such geniuses as Albert Einstein and Sir Isaac Newton might have suffered from it. 

 

Calls have been made for an urgent debate on the ethics of a new test that doctors say will soon detect autism in unborn children.

Researchers at the U.K.’s Cambridge University autism research center followed 235 children from birth to the age of eight and found that high levels of testosterone in amniotic fluid surrounding a fetus in the womb suggested a strong link to autism in the unborn child.

The test would be similar to those undertaken by women who think they may be carrying a child with Down syndrome, which has led to an increase in the number of babies with the syndrome being aborted.

Doctors worldwide have reported a dramatic increase in the last two decades in the number of children, especially boys, being diagnosed with various forms of autism, which is a spectrum disorder.

Autism can manifest itself in a range of ways, from children with no speech or social interaction, to those which high-functioning forms of the condition, such as Asperger syndrome, where the only symptoms are slight difficulties in social interaction, which can often be overcome by learned behavior.

People with autism have been among the world’s greatest mathematical and musical minds.   

METRO