PET Adviser
Dr Jess Buxton is an Adviser to PET (the Progress Educational Trust), and a Volunteer Writer at its flagship publication BioNews. Jess was previously Genetics Editor of BioNews, and together with Professors Kirsty Horsey and Marcus Pembrey, she developed the BioNews writing scheme to provide practical science writing training and experience for PhD students. Jess has a PhD in Human Genetics, awarded for her work on the genetic condition myotonic dystrophy, and carried out postdoctoral research on the genetics of human disease at Imperial College London and University College London. Following her last academic role as a senior lecturer at Kingston University, Jess is now working in medical communications at Aspire Scientific.
What exactly are SHEEFs and IVGs? How might they shed light on the mysteries of early embryo development, and offer new hope to those affected by infertility? These questions were the focus of the second session at Progress Educational Trust's one-day con
The fifth and final session of the Progress Educational Trust's annual conference 'Rethinking the Ethics of Embryo Research: Genome Editing, 14 Days and Beyond' covered a range of perspectives on the status of the human embryo...
We report from the third session of the annual conference of the Progress Educational Trust, titled 'Genome Editing and CRISPR: The Science of Engineering the Embryo', which discussed these new technologies and how they might be used in the future...
A recent study suggests that embryonic gene activity may be altered by factors present in the womb even before implantation. This finding triggered a somewhat misleading newspaper article entitled 'Infertile mums "pass on DNA"', which claimed the research means recipients of donor eggs are passing on their own DNA to their child. This isn't the case...
This discussion around the role of commerce in genetics and fertility treatment coincided with the launch of 23andMe's controversial personal genome service in the UK. Issues around health interventions following personal genetic testing were the focus of the second session at PET's conference, which asked: 'Whose genes are they anyway?'...
Twins have long been an endless source of fascination to their family, friends and society, and also to scientists. This year, the topics of twins in genetics and twins in fertility treatment formed the two halves of Progress Educational Trust's annual conference...
A US study proclaiming the health benefits of stress management, gentle exercise and a 'plant-based' diet grabbed the attention of the world's media last week, but what was novel about the findings, and are the life-extending claims justified?...
A huge thank-you to the 700 readers who took the time to complete our survey earlier this year. As with previous surveys, the results will be invaluable for the future development of BioNews, to ensure it continues to meet the needs of our readers...
This evening debate, organised by the Progress Educational Trust (PET) in partnership with University College London's Genetics Institute, and supported by the Wellcome Trust, marked the launch of PET's project 'Genes, Ancestry and Racial Identity: Does it Matter Where Your Genes Come From?' The first of what promises to be a very lively series of debates...
After almost ten happy years as a BioNews editor, this issue will be my last. I started working for Progress Educational Trust (PET) in February 2000, nearly a year after BioNews was launched by Juliet Tizzard, the first PET director. In my first week, I remember thinking how useful a news digest of developments in the fast-moving areas of genetics and assisted reproduction was - and what a fascinating job it was going to be. But at the same time, I privately wondered whether there would be q...
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