Welcome to the 200th issue of BioNews. In our first issue, published on 22 March 1999, we outlined our intention to keep you up to date on developments in assisted reproduction and human genetics and to provide you with a range of views on controversial issues in the field.
On our first promise, we have certainly delivered. Over the last four years, we have published 1098 news digests, as well as hundreds of recommended conferences, books and feature articles. On our second promise, we have delivered 200 commentaries on a wide range of ethical, legal and social issues - on everything from donor anonymity to designer babies, from stem cell research to sex selection, and from postmenopausal motherhood to personalised medicine. From your correspondence, we know that those commentaries have sometimes made you shake your fists at the computer screen and at other times have made you cheer with agreement. Soon, you will have the opportunity to read a wider range of views on many of the controversial topics that we cover.
We are pleased to announce that Progress Educational Trust is about to launch a new website, BioNews Online, which will provide web-based news, information and comment, written by both the BioNews team and expert contributors. With funding from the UK Department of Health, we are currently building the site and writing and commissioning material - and we're due to launch the site on 29 May at a reception in London.
Unfortunately, we cannot invite you all to our launch reception - we calculate that more than 10,000 people read BioNews every week. However, anyone who would like to contribute to BioNews Online by writing their own commentary on any one of the topics we regularly cover, will be invited to join us in celebrating the fourth birthday of BioNews emails and the launch of BioNews Online.
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