Oliver Timmis was previously a Volunteer Writer at BioNews, and is also Communications Project Manager at the AKU Society, a charity dedicated to the support of patients with alkaptonuria and the advancement of research into this rare disease. He has represented the charity at national and international levels as a member of EURORDIS, Genetic Alliance UK, the Specialised Healthcare Alliance and the UK Genetic Testing Network's Clinical and Scientific Advisory Group. Previously, he studied Physiology, Development and Neuroscience at the University of Cambridge, where he focused on the development and ethics of preimplantation genetic diagnosis. He has a strong interest in genetics, particularly rare diseases and their interaction with common conditions.
The idea of a rare disease informing wider knowledge about fundamentals of biology is now well established. We have shown it in alkaptonuria research, as alkaptonuria (which affects around 80 people in the UK) is an extreme form of osteoarthritis (which affects more than eight million)...
Two new genetic variants that could increase the risk of childhood obesity have been identified in the largest ever genome-wide study of the disease...
What time of day it is could influence whether or not we get an infection. A protein known to be involved in the immune system may be influenced by the body's circadian rhythm, according to researchers at Yale University...
A professor of pathology and a midwife have been arrested in the US, charged with illegally supplying stem cells for unauthorised use. They are suspected of belonging to a team of at least four people who sold untested stem cell 'cures' to cancer patients and people with neurodegenerative diseases...
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) will take over policing of IVF clinics, despite worries it cannot cope with the additional workload...
Progeria, an extremely rare genetic disease that is commonly used as model for ageing, could be treated with an existing drug...
Artificial blood, manufactured from human stem cells, could be used in patient trials within two years. The blood will be based on the universal donor group (O rhesus negative), a blood type suitable for up to 98 percent of the population...
The Faroe Islands is set to become the first region to sequence the genome of its entire population....
On 25 July 2011 the Wellcome Trust turned 75, and to celebrate they have commissioned a collection of 15 stories based on some of the most interesting people they have funded...
An Australian court has ruled that a lesbian couple can have the name of the sperm donor removed from their child's birth certificate....
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