CRISPR-like immune system found in giant virus
Researchers have found that mimiviruses, a class of giant viruses, have an immune system reminiscent of the CRISPR system used by bacteria to evade infection...
Kirsty Oswald
Kirsty Oswald was a Volunteer Writer at BioNews. She was previously Genetics Editor at BioNews and at the charity that publishes it, the Progress Educational Trust (PET). She originally studied Human Sciences at University College London, and went on to work as a healthcare copywriter and as a medical journalist at medwireNews. She has a particular interested in the social and cultural aspects of science, and she tweets as @kirstyoswald
BioNews Articles by Kirsty Oswald
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.
Stem-cell controversy unfolds in Sweden
The world-renowned Karolinska Institute is at the centre of a scandal surrounding the conduct of stem-cell surgeon Paulo Macchiarini...
Panel recommends FDA approval of mitochondrial donation
Clinical investigations of mitochondrial donation are 'ethically permissable', says a panel of experts reporting to the US Food and Drug Administration...
Gene mutations can predict prostate cancer drug resistance
Researchers have identified the genetic mutations that drive resistance to the hormone therapy abiraterone in patients with advanced prostate cancer...
Beating the biological clock - should you freeze your eggs?
Will egg freezing enable women to take full reproductive control and beat the biological clock? Or is it just another way to tell women they can't have a career and a family? These were some of the questions tackled at PET's recent event 'Beating the Biological Clock: should you freeze your eggs?'...
India moves to curb commercial surrogacy
India looks poised to introduce surrogacy legislation following several developments that could lead to a blanket ban on commercial surrogacy...
North East Essex CCG cuts IVF funding
North East Essex Clinical Commissioning Group has announced that it is ending its IVF funding, and fertility treatment will only be available to specific groups of patients...
NHS England sets out personalised medicine strategy
NHS England's national medical director, Sir Bruce Keogh, has outlined how the organisation's approach to personalised medicine will develop over the coming years and expand beyond the work of the 100,000 Genomes Project...
UK scientists seek permission to edit embryos
Researchers from London's Francis Crick Institute are seeking permission to edit the genome of human embryos...
Gene editing of human embyros must be allowed, says Hinxton group
The influential Hinxton group has said that the genetic modification of human embryos should be allowed...