Screening donors: New challenges in the UK fertility landscape
Screening gamete donors could reduce transmission of recessive genetic conditions, but also gives rise to new and ethically sensitive questions for recipients, clinicians and donors...
Professor Cathy Herbrand
Professor of Medical and Family Sociology
Cathy Herbrand is a professor of medical and family sociology at the Centre for Reproduction Research at De Montfort University and a member of the Belgian Advisory Committee on Bioethics. Her research interests lie in the social study of reproduction, biotechnologies and genetics, with a particular focus on reproductive decision-making and gender issues. She currently leads a collaborative and interdisciplinary ESRC-funded research project on the implications of new preconception reproductive genomic testing in the UK (PRECAS project: 2023 – 2026).
BioNews Articles by Professor Cathy Herbrand
Image by Alan Handyside via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a human egg soon after fertilisation, with the two parental pronuclei clearly visible.
Revolutionising reproduction: setting a new moral compass
Is sexual reproduction still compatible with Western values? Can germline genome editing ever be considered as medicine? Can we stick to act only on serious disorders? These were some of the provocative and complex questions which were addressed during th
Image by Peter Artymiuk via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts the shadow of a DNA double helix, on a background that shows the fluorescent banding of the output from a DNA sequencing machine.
Event Review: Exploring the sociology of mitochondrial donation
The UK's first symposium to discuss the sociology of mitochondrial disorders and novel reproductive technologies took place on 5 May 2017 in London. The event aimed to develop sociological thought around mitochondrial donation, based on invited contributi
Image by Bill Sanderson via the Wellcome Collection, © Wellcome Trust Ltd 1990. Depicts Laocoön and his family (from Greek and Roman mythology) entwined in coils of DNA.
The Warnock Report and the 14-day rule
Baroness Mary Warnock was the first speaker at this year's Progress Educational Trust Annual Conference. She is best known for The Warnock report, which was written more than 30 years ago and has shaped legislation in the UK and around the world...
Image by Alan Handyside via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a human egg soon after fertilisation, with the two parental pronuclei clearly visible.
Three-person IVF: What makes mitochondrial donation different?
We report from the second session of the annual conference of the Progress Educational Trust, titled 'From Three-Person IVF to Genome Editing: the Science and the Ethics of Engineering the Embryo', about the newly legalised process of mitochondrial donation...
Image by Alan Handyside via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a human egg soon after fertilisation, with the two parental pronuclei clearly visible.
Radio Review: Mum and Dad and Mum
Following a backbench debate in the House of Commons on mitochondrial donation on 1 September, BBC Radio 4 explored some of the issues raised by these high profile techniques aimed at preventing the transmission of mitochondrial disorders...
