BioNews: 25th birthday special edition

Welcome to this special 25th birthday edition of BioNews! For a digital publication like BioNews, it is an amazing achievement to reach this milestone.

Over the last 25 years, PET has published:

• 1254 editions.
• More than 8475 news articles.
• Around 1994 comment pieces.
• More than 890 reviews (note that we only introduced reviews in 2009!).

Over the past 25 years, we have had 1200 authors writing for BioNews, ranging from people at the very top of their profession to students who want to try their hand at science writing.

This year PET decided to launch the inaugural Marcus Pembrey BioNews Writing Prize, named after our patron, to celebrate the 25th Birthday of BioNews.

Marcus Pembrey is an emeritus professor of paediatric genetics at the Institute of Child Health. Throughout his long and distinguished career, he has been passionate about science communication and debate. It was Professor Pembrey who set up the BioNews Writing Scheme through which we train postgraduate students in the art of science news and review writing. More than 100 students from University College London and other universities have now completed the scheme.

The writing competition was open to individuals aged from 18-30, and required entrants to write a 1000-word comment piece discussing which scientific or legal development in fertility, genomics or embryo research in the last 25 years they thought would have the greatest impact in the next 25 years.

Submissions were whittled down to shortlist by our judges (and former BioNews editors) Dr Jess Buxton and Professor Kirsty Horsey, and these six were then passed to the head judge – Dr Philip Ball – acclaimed science writer and former editor of Nature – to choose the three winners.

The winners :

• First place – The impact of artificial wombs: A look at the potential benefits and challenges, by Philippa Kemp
• Second place – The continued impact of the CRISPR revolution, by Vanessa Burns
• Third place – The removal of donor anonymity in the UK: What might this mean for donor-conceived people?, by Dr Catherine Jones

Philippa will also be given the opportunity to have three further pieces published in BioNews, with coaching from our experienced team of editors.

There are undoubtedly exciting times ahead for everyone involved in the world of fertility treatment, embryo research and genomics, and we intend to keep you up-to-date throughout the next 25 years. However, we have no grant funding or sponsorship for the production of BioNews, and so we need your help to secure the publication's future.

Therefore, I would like to urge you all to consider making a donation to the BioNews birthday appeal or – even better – become a Friend of PET, and support us on a regular basis.