<p><span class="text"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Dr Alan Thornhill</span> was previously a <a href="https://www.bionews.org.uk/writingarticles" title="https://www.bionews.org.uk/writingarticles" class="">Volunteer Writer</a> at <span style="font-weight: bold;">BioNews</span>, and an <a href="http://www.progress.org.uk/page_2978.asp#advisers" title="Advisers to the Progress Educational Trust">Adviser</a> to the charity that publishes <span style="font-weight: bold;">BioNews</span>, the <a href="http://www.progress.org.uk/" target="blank"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Progress Educational Trust</span> (<span style="font-weight: bold;">PET</span>)</a>. One of the UK's leading specialists in preimplantation genetics and clinical embryology, he is a Member of the <a href="http://www.hfea.gov.uk/" target="blank">Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority</a>, Scientific Director of the <a href="http://www.thebridgecentre.co.uk/" target="blank">London Bridge Fertility, Gynaecology and Genetics Centre</a>, and Secretary of <a href="http://www.alphascientists.org/" target="blank">Alpha</a>, an international forum for scientists in reproductive medicine. He is also a state-registered clinical scientist and human embryo biopsy practitioner and a high-complexity laboratory director as certified by the <a href="http://www.aab.org/abb%20home%20page.htm" target="blank">American Board of Bioanalysis</a>, and he has appeared on TV programmes including <a href="http://www.channel4embarrassingillnesses.com/" target="blank"><span style="font-style: italic;">Embarrassing Bodies</span></a> on <a href="http://www.channel4.com/" target="blank">Channel 4</a>. He was previously Director of <a href="http://www.bridgegenoma.com/" target="blank">Bridge Genoma</a>, the UK's first independent laboratory dedicated to providing preimplantation genetic tests to patients and partner clinics, and he has published over 100 articles on fertility and genetics. His current research interests include the genetics of infertility and reproductive pharmacogenetics. He is editor of <span style="font-style: italic;">Single Cell Diagnostics: Methods and Protocols</span> (buy this book from <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1588295788?ie=UTF8&tag=wwwbionewsorg-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1588295788" target="blank">Amazon UK</a>), and coauthor of a chapter in <span style="font-style: italic;">Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis</span> (buy this book from <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0521884713?ie=UTF8&tag=wwwbionewsorg-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=0521884713" target="blank">Amazon UK</a>).</span></p>
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As we head into a new phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, there are still many questions unanswered...
The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority recently announced plans to review the list of approved inherited conditions for which preimplantation genetic diagnosis is currently licensed to ensure that it is only available for conditions which meet the statutory requirements in the UK...
When asked why having twins isn't a good idea, I struggle. I start trotting out the party line, the obstetric risks and risks to the babies themselves, and then begin to shuffle my feet. It's complicated, I say, hoping they will move onto another topic...
Julia Manning's report 'Who said pornography was acceptable in the workplace? An investigation into the use of pornography by NHS fertility clinics' is disturbing. All that is missing from this supposed expose is the human story...
Long before the current commercial banking crisis, the UK suffered another banking crisis - that of donor sperm shortages. The difference is that the sperm bank crisis is not global. Instead it is quintessentially British - full of principle and good intention but sadly resulting from compromise and inconsistency. Only the areas of inconsistency are consistent: the removal of anonymity, donor expenses, screening and selection guidelines and the limitations on use of individual donors. Taken s...
Embryo selection following cleavage stage embryo biopsy and chromosome analysis to identify aneuploid embryos (those which have an abnormal number of chromosomes) in every couple having IVF/ICSI or all women of advanced maternal age is rightly considered by most clinics to be too invasive and potentially damaging for routine...
We are currently planning to help the first British couple have a baby free from the risk of developing early-onset Alzheimer's disease (EOAD). Preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) for this disease, which affects individuals in middle age (40s and 50s) - rather than the more common Alzheimer's whose effects are suffered considerably...
Pharmacogenetics is not new. One of our authors famously can drink a bottle of wine with little effect. The other falls asleep after just one glass. Indeed, the speed at which alcohol is broken down in the body is partly genetically determined. This principle applies to most, if not all...
Once again the media have a new designer baby story. Sorry, but there's nothing really new here. No new ethical arguments, new techniques or disease types. Not a designer baby in sight. What is new is the decision by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) to expand the list...
The results of the recent Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) consultation exercise to review payments and benefits in kind for sperm, egg and embryo donors (SEED review, HFEA 2005) were frankly disappointing, and will make no difference to most UK donors. A golden opportunity to improve donor recruitment has...
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