Susan Ann Torres, the daughter born to a brain-dead woman on 2 August, died yesterday.

Susan Torres' mother collapsed with a stroke in May and was kept on life support in order to give her unborn child time to develop to viability.

The prognosis for the baby had been good, but she died following an infection aged five weeks.

Emergency surgery was attempted but was unsuccessful.

A family statement said: "With great sadness, we are asking for your prayers for the repose of the soul of 5-week-old baby Susan Ann Torres.She passed away last night after surgery for a perforated intestine".

[Reuters, 13 September ; LifeNews.com, 12 September ] A study conducted by researchers at the Harvard School for Public Health claims that taking the oral contraceptive pill may reduce or delay a woman's chances of developing multiple sclerosis.

It had formerly been thought that the hormone oestrogen, which the pill contains, was a contributory factor in developing MS; but Alvaro Alonso claims that data from over a thousand women during three years found that those on the pill were 40% less likely to develop the disease in the short term. Alonso emphasised, however, that oestrogen has no long-term protective effects against MS.

[Nature, 12 September ] Confirmation hearings for John Roberts, President Bush's nominee for Supreme Court Chief Justice, started yesterday.

Although no Senator has publicly opposed Roberts, Democrats are expected to question him closely on issues such as abortion.

Roberts, in his opening statement, said that judges "are servants of the law, not the other way round...a certain humility should characterise the judicial role", and he undertook to "confront every case with an open mind". [The Times, 13 September ]