Netflix sued for disclosing identities of donor-conceived people
Netflix is being sued in federal court over the disclosure of three women's donor-conceived status in the 2022 documentary 'Our Father'...
Vanessa Burns
PhD student at the Wellcome Sanger Institute
Vanessa Burns is a Volunteer Writer at BioNews. She is a PhD candidate in Human Genetics at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, affiliated with the University of Cambridge. Vanessa previously obtained an MPhil in Genomic Medicine from the University of Cambridge, in addition to an MSc in Reproductive and Developmental Biology from Imperial College London. Her current work is focused on the use of saturation genome editing to clarify variant effect within developmental disorder genes. More specifically, this research hopes to inform the functional effect of variants in non-coding regions, as well as resolve variants of uncertain significance to aid clinical diagnosis.
BioNews Articles by Vanessa Burns
Image by Matthew Daniels via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts human cells, showing the stages of cell division.
The continued impact of the CRISPR revolution
This piece by Vanessa Burns, exploring the impact the impact that CRISPR-based genome editing will have over the next 25 years, won the second prize in the inaugural Marcus Pembrey BioNews Writing Competition...
Image by Alan Handyside via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a human egg soon after fertilisation, with the two parental pronuclei clearly visible.
Wildfire smoke may affect IVF
Poor air quality caused by wildfires may affect treatment outcomes in patients undergoing IVF...
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: Polygenic Embryo Screening – The promise and perils of selecting our children's traits
A timely conversation focused on the bioethical concerns wrapped up in the clinical use of polygenic embryo screening...
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.
Event Review: The Impact of Dobbs on Emerging Reproductive Technologies
Doctors and lawyers got together to discuss the intricacies of the impact of the overturning of Roe v Wade on reproductive healthcare in the USA…
Film Review: The Pod Generation
A young New York couple begin the tech-paved path to parenthood...
Image by K Hardy via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a human embryo at the blastocyst stage (about six days after fertilisation) 'hatching' out of the zona pellucida.
'Mini-placentas' to help in understanding reproductive disorders
A placenta model, developed at the University of Cambridge, is enabling scientists to better understand the underlying cause of reproductive disorders...
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.
Challenges and Changes: What's Happening Across Europe?
The third session of the PET 2023 Annual Conference 'Challenges and Changes: What's Happening Across Europe?' brought together three eminent speakers working in reproductive medicine, fertility preservation and ethics…
Image by Alan Handyside via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts equipment used for embryo biopsy.
Exhibition Review: Real Families – Stories of change
Bringing together more than 120 artworks spanning painting, photography, sculpture and film, Real Families: Stories of Change asks us to consider what makes a family today...
Postpartum stroke risk increased after fertility treatment
The risk of having a stroke in the first year after giving birth is higher in people who had fertility treatment compared to those who conceived naturally...
