Roche attempts $5.7bn takeover of DNA sequencing firm Illumina

Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche has made an unsolicited bid worth $5.7 billion to takeover US DNA sequencing firm Illumina....[Read More]

Report examines genomic medicine on the NHS

Genomic medicine will be at the forefront of the NHS, according to a report released last week by the Human Genomics Strategy Group (HGSG). The report highlights the UK's achievements in genomic technology to date and makes six recommendations to ensure future benefit of genomic innovation within the NHS...[Read More]

Myriad Genetics acquires patent on another breast cancer-linked gene

Myriad Genetics, a leading US molecular diagnostic company, has been granted exclusive rights to an analysis of the RAD51C gene. Mutations of the gene have been associated with an increased risk for hereditary breast and ovarian cancer and the company now hopes to develop a commercial test for RAD51C....[Read More]

Personalised care one step closer as Mayo Clinic sequences patients' genomes

Personalised healthcare could be one step closer this year, as doctors from the prestigious US Mayo Clinic embark on a project to sequence the full genetic code of thousands of people...[Read More]

UK cancer charity launches project to develop personalised medicines

An initiative has been launched to collect genetic data from NHS cancer patients in the hope of developing new, personalised treatments....[Read More]

Event Review: Field of Genes - DNA Testing to Find Future Olympic Champions

Would you let your 10-year-old child sit out of PE classes if they were not built for sport? Would it inspire you to do better if you found out your genes indicated that you're not likely to succeed at it? Or would it demoralise you to the point that you give up on something you love?...[Read More]

Successful trial of genetic test to guide personalised cancer therapy

A new genetic test that will help to tailor drugs to cancer patients' individual tumours has been successfully trialled in the US...[Read More]

Gene tests for weight loss: Australian pharmacies under fire

The Australian Pharmacy Guild has drawn criticism after signing a commercial deal that offers weight-loss programmes based on genetic testing. Medical experts in the field claim that the test is a 'gimmick', as research linking genes to weight gain or loss is still in its infancy, and is not suitable evidence to guide dietary regimes...[Read More]

A private sperm donor writes...

A shortfall in donated sperm, we are told, has pushed potential recipients onto websites where private sperm donors hawk their reproductive wares. If only the officially sanctioned sperm banks were well stocked, the thinking goes, women would not have to venture into that murky world. But is that correct? What if sperm donation outside the official channels actually carried certain advantages over the clinic system...[Read More]

Ten questions for Lone Frank, author of 'My Beautiful Genome'

'We are not our genomes'. Lone Frank, the author of 'My Beautiful Genome – Exposing our Genetic Quirks, One Genome at a Time' spoke to BioNews about her latest book, the recent surge in direct-to-consumer genetic tests, the ethical dilemmas they could pose and what we can understand from such tests. As he says, 'genetics is a work in progress'...[Read More]

Book Review: My Beautiful Genome - Exposing Our Genetic Future One Quirk at a Time

My Beautiful Genome is the story of DNA told through one woman's quest to find out if the secret to her depression lies in her genes...[Read More]

Safeguarding consent and confidentiality in clinical genetic practice

Suppose you have just had a genetic test for a condition that you suspect runs in your family. Aside from the possible implications for your own health, could – or should – your results be used to help to interpret tests done on other members of your family?...[Read More]

Racing ahead in the polls

Throughout 2011 the charity that publishes BioNews, the Progress Educational Trust, has been running a Wellcome Trust supported project entitled 'Genes, Ancestry and Racial Identity: Does It Matter Where Your Genes Come From?'. The project is now concluding with an online poll which we'd like to encourage all BioNews readers to complete...[Read More]

Book review: Ethical and Legal Requirements for Transnational Genetic Research

First, here is the bad news. Readers attracted by this title are in for a stormy and depressing journey. The writing, both in choice of language and sentence construction, is turgid. The problems of 'plain English' start in the six-page introduction, reach a low point in the ethical chapter and only improve slightly in the legal section...[Read More]

Book Review: Genetic Twists of Fate

News reports that researchers have linked a certain gene to a disease, condition or trait appear almost daily. The most recent include multiple sclerosis, ovarian cancer, schizophrenia and even intelligence...[Read More]

Reflections on the ethical debate surrounding non-invasive prenatal genetic diagnosis

An up-and-coming technology will soon allow genetic testing of a fetus with a simple maternal blood test early in the first trimester of the pregnancy by isolating cell-free fetal DNA in the mother's plasma. Currently, obtaining reliable diagnostic genetic information requires invasive testing with Chorionic Villus Sampling (CVS) or amniocentesis. Both carry a risk of miscarriage and are performed between weeks 10 and 20 of the pregnancy...[Read More]

Genetic screening by nurses reduces specialist referrals

Using nurses to pre-screen people for genetic risk of cancer, cardiac or endocrine disease before they're sent to specialist services can reduce referrals by up to 75 percent, a preliminary trial has found....[Read More]

Risk testing during national breast screening could halve cancer rates

UK women at high risk of breast cancer could halve their chances of developing the disease with genetic risk testing during routine NHS screening. This news came from PROCAS - the world's first study into giving genetic risk and prevention advice in a national breast screening programme, and was reported in this Sunday's Express....[Read More]

Event Review: Clinically Relevant Findings in Research

What happens when a research team discovers something that has direct significance to the health of an individual involved in their study? Although the discovery of 'health-related findings' can occur in any study involving human participants, the answer to this question is by no means clear....[Read More]

Event Review: The Age of Personalised Medicine - Genes, Privacy and Discrimination

'The age of personalised medicine: genes, privacy and discrimination?' was the last in BioCentre's 2010/2011 symposium series 'Revolution, Regulation and Responsibilities', and promised to 'appraise current developments and consider the current legal and regulatory position for their use before taking time to reflect and assess the future impact on society'...[Read More]