Nisha Satkunarajah

Nisha Satkunarajah was previously a Volunteer Writer for BioNews, and a Volunteer at the charity that publishes it, the Progress Educational Trust (PET). Previously, she studied Law at Queen Mary University of London, completed the Bar Professional Training Course at Brierley Price Prior Law School, and went on to join the Civil Service working for the Home Office.

BioNews Articles by Nisha Satkunarajah

Image by Alan Handyside via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a human egg soon after fertilisation, with the two parental pronuclei clearly visible.

News

10 January 2010 • 2 minutes read

Medical board accuses 'octomum' doctor of negligence

by Nisha Satkunarajah

A disciplinary complaint has been filed by the California State Medical Board against Dr Micheal Kamrava, the fertility doctor who controversially assisted Nadya Suleman to give birth to octuplets in January 2009. Barbara Johnston, the executive director of the board, filed the complaint, which accuses Dr Kamrava of negligence and violation of professional guidelines. No date has yet been set for the hearing which could potential result in Dr Kamrava's licence being revoked or suspended....

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 sequencing output from an automated DNA sequencing machine.

News

14 December 2009 • 1 minute read

Chromosome-shaped genetics lab plans unveiled

by Nisha Satkunarajah

Plans are underway to build a new state-of-the-art genetic facility in the shape of a pair of chromosomes in London. The UK Centre for Medical Research and Innovation (UKCMRI), will cost a total of £600 million to build, hold 1250 working scientists and promises to bring together scientists world over in a bid to push forward research and advancements in the field of human diseases....

News

30 November 2009 • 2 minutes read

New EU rules could boost IVF costs

by Nisha Satkunarajah

All patients undergoing assisted reproductive treatments may be screened for diseases between each cycle, potentially leading to massive cost implications, under a new interpretation of European Union rules on tissue and cell donation proposed by the European Commission....

Image by Sílvia Ferreira, Cristina Lopo and Eileen Gentleman via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a single human stem cell embedded within a porous hydrogel matrix (false-coloured cryogenic scanning electron micrograph).

News

16 November 2009 • 2 minutes read

$230 million cash boost aimed at driving stem cell therapies into the clinic

by Nisha Satkunarajah

The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) has awarded fourteen teams a total of $230 million for the advancement of stem cell therapy. The CIRM was created as a measure by the Californian State to fund work on human embryonic stem (ES) cells.Californian voters approved the 10-year, $3 billion effort in 2004 largely to get around restrictions on ES cell research imposed by the administration of President George W Bush. This year, President Obama's administration relaxed thes...

News

5 October 2009 • 2 minutes read

8-year lawsuit settled over US lesbians denied IVF

by Nisha Satkunarajah

A lesbian couple has won a landmark case against a Californian clinic, where doctors allegedly cited their religious beliefs as grounds to refuse the couple IVF treatment....

News

28 September 2009 • 1 minute read

New measures aim to streamline licensing of UK fertility clinics

by Nisha Satkunarajah

The UK's fertility regulator, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), has introduced new measures to provide a more streamlined process when considering licensing applications for embryo research centres and fertility clinics. The introduction of a new Appeals Committee and an Executive Licensing Panel came about as a result of new powers granted to the HFEA under the new Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008 (amending a 1990 Act of the same name)....

News

14 September 2009 • 2 minutes read

IVF couples must undergo police checks under new Australian law

by Nisha Satkunarajah

New legislation introduced by the Victorian government in Australia, which requires all prospective IVF patients to have criminal background checks to ensure they have no previous history of violent or sexual crimes, has outraged patients and clinicians alike.The Assisted Reproduction Treatment Act, passed in December 2008, which also enables single women and lesbian couples to receive IVF treatment, was introduced after recommendations were made from the Victorian Law Reform Commission. The ...

News

10 August 2009 • 2 minutes read

Calls to test athletes for sickle cell gene

by Nisha Satkunarajah

The deaths of student-athletes due to complications of sickle-cell trait has led the US's National Collegiate Athletic Association to recommend that all student-athletes should be tested for the condition. Dale Lloyd II died in 2006 after suffering 'exertional sickling' caused by overexertion during an early morning practice and...

Reviews

24 July 2009 • 4 minutes read

Film Review: My Sister's Keeper

by Nisha Satkunarajah

'My Sister's Keeper' is based on a book by the author Jodi Picoult. The youngest daughter of the Fitzgerald family, Anna (Abigail Breslin), decides to sue her parents for the ‘medical emancipation’ of her own body. Having been conceived through IVF and the resulting embryo tissue typed to ensure it was a match for her sick existing sibling, Anna was born for the primary reason of keeping her older sister, Kate (Sofia Vassilieva), a leukaemia patient, alive....

News

12 May 2009 • 2 minutes read

Controversial children's book explains IVF, donor conception and gay surrogacy

by Nisha Satkunarajah

A controversial new publication has been released in Australia providing young children with detailed explanations of sexual intercourse, assisted conception and adoption. Entitled 'Where Do I Come From?', the book aims to provide simple, non-judgmental descriptions of conception and birth, and includes topics such as donor insemination...

Nisha Satkunarajah

BioNews Articles by Nisha Satkunarajah

Medical board accuses 'octomum' doctor of negligence

Chromosome-shaped genetics lab plans unveiled

New EU rules could boost IVF costs

$230 million cash boost aimed at driving stem cell therapies into the clinic

8-year lawsuit settled over US lesbians denied IVF

New measures aim to streamline licensing of UK fertility clinics

IVF couples must undergo police checks under new Australian law

Calls to test athletes for sickle cell gene

Film Review: My Sister's Keeper

Controversial children's book explains IVF, donor conception and gay surrogacy

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Top articles

Governance and law reform proposals for stem-cell-based embryo models

Netherlands: 400 donor-conceived people have more than 25 half siblings

South Africa may allow heritable human genome editing

Stem cells from young donors more diverse and longer lasting

First patient receives novel in vivo gene therapy for blood cancer

UK regulator recommends extending human embryo research limit to 28 days

CRISPR genome editing can be controlled with ultrasound

Filipino surrogates convicted by Cambodian court

Reason for lower cancer risk in old age discovered

Denmark expands free IVF to those wanting a second child

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