Ailsa Stevens was formerly Genetics Editor at BioNews and at the charity that publishes it, the Progress Educational Trust (PET). She is a Press Officer at Cancer Research UK, the world's leading independent organisation dedicated to cancer research, where her work involves securing accurate and timely press coverage in relation to the charity's multimillion pound cancer research programme. Her work for PET has included writing publications such as A Guide to Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis, a booklet explaining the science and ethics of PGD for a lay readership; writing articles for Ova, the in-house magazine of the London Women's Clinic; and working with Dr Jess Buxton to secure press coverage for the annual conference of the British Society for Human Genetics. Previously, Ailsa studied Genetics at University College London and then obtained an MSc in Science Communication from Imperial College London. She went on to work as Genetics Education Executive at Jeans for Genes, a UK charity which provides funds for research and care for children with genetic disorders. She was responsible for producing interactive e-learning resources for the charity, aimed at engaging primary and secondary school children with genetics; and she ran the charity's school speaker programme, which involves leading school assemblies during the run-up to Jeans for Genes Day. Any opinions expressed by Ailsa in BioNews articles are her own, and do not represent the opinions of any organisation she may be affiliated with.
The pandemic has created huge demand for high quality home learning materials. One such resource is Great Ormond Street Hospital's new short film on gene therapy...
'What's up with Lorraine?' is a comic book about six superheroes - each with their own body-inspired superpowers - who live on a faraway planet called Mediland, which resembles key parts of the human body...
The 744-page book covers the causes of infertility, imaging techniques, assisted reproductive techniques, surrogacy, donor gametes and adoption...
When Tim is stuck on his biology homework, his brilliant scientist and inventor uncle has the perfect solution: an invention that allows a teacher to project their thoughts directly into the brain of their pupil. 'Oh, if only' I hear every teacher and science communicator gasp. Wouldn't projecting science messages into children's minds make our lives a whole lot easier?...
Scientists have pinpointed a handful of genes that contribute small, but significant, amounts to the happiness of some individuals. So is there some truth in the idea that our genes somehow limit our capacity for happiness? This is the backdrop for American author Richard Powers' latest novel Generosity...
I'm going to come clean from the start. My experience of comics is limited to precisely one example: 'Preacher' by Gareth Ennis and Steven Dillon - the story of Reverend Jesse Custer, a beatnik Texan cleric who is accidentally possessed by a supernatural deity during a freak accident. Needless to say, the storyline bears little resemblance to 'Alisa's Tale' - the story of a young woman with a restricted growth condition known as achondroplasia...
Genetic influences are estimated to account for up to 82 per cent of a child's reading ability, but children can only make the most of their natural abilities if this is combined with excellent teaching, a study published in the journal Science last week has found...
Three new gene variants have been linked to increased risk of brain aneurysms in the largest ever genome-wide study of its kind. The discovery brings the total number of gene variants linked to the condition up to five and paves the way for more targeted drug treatments and early screening tests...
Last week BioNews reported on the coming into force of new legislation allowing same-sex couples to become the legal parents of children born following IVF or surrogacy....
The results of a huge multinational project to pinpoint all the genes and related proteins essential for cell division are to be made publically available for other researchers to use...
Stay up-to-date on all the latest developments in the fields of human fertility and genomics. And be the first to hear about upcoming events and other announcements.
