The Human Genetics Commission (HGC) published a consultation document last week, to help identify its priority areas of work over the next two to three years. It suggests that legal protection of genetic information and the implementation of genetic testing should be among the key areas of its initial work...
US president Bill Clinton and UK prime minister Tony Blair have issued a joint statement urging all human genome researchers to place their results in the public domain. 'Raw fundamental data on the human genome, including the human DNA sequence and its variations, should be made freely available to scientists...
Five pigs cloned using nuclear transfer technology - the 'Dolly technique' - were born on 5 March, announced UK firm PPL Therapeutics last week. Genetic tests have proved that the pigs, called Millie, Christa, Alexis, Carrel and Dotcom - are all genetically identical to an adult female pig. The scientists say they now...
Scientists battling to save endangered species are turning to surrogates from other species for help, according to a report in the Sunday Times yesterday. A team of researchers at the Audubon Institute, University of New Orleans has frozen 170 tiger embryos produced by in vitro fertilisation (IVF), which they plan...
The Swiss public have voted overwhelmingly against further restrictions on assisted reproduction, following a referendum on 12 March. Seventy-five per cent of the population rejected a proposal to ban in vitro fertilisation (IVF) and sperm donation, which would have left non-donor insemination as the only permitted technique. The call for...
The Bishop of Edinburgh, the Most Rev. Richard Holloway, has spoken out in favour of therapeutic cloning - the proposed use of cloned early embryos to grow new body tissues. He said he could see no ethical reason to oppose the creation of human organs and tissues, if the technology became...
A House of Lord's report says more must be done to restore public confidence in science, following the BSE debacle and recent concerns over GM (genetically-modified) food. The Science and Society report, published last week, also suggests that there should be more rigorous guidelines for science journalists. However, they rejected...
A couple whose only daughter died following a bonfire accident last July have applied to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) for permission to try and conceive a baby girl through in vitro fertilisation (IVF). Louise and Alan Masterton want to use an embryo screening technique - preimplantation genetic diagnosis...
A row between the private and public bodies racing to sequence the human genome erupted last week. It followed the collapse of recent secret talks in which the rivals were discussing a possible collaboration. But any hopes that the Human Genome Project scientists and biotech company Celera Genomicsmight work...
A woman has given birth to a healthy baby who grew outside her womb, attached instead to her bowel. Doctors at the Queen's Medical Centre, Nottingham UK were amazed when they delivered the four and a half pound baby girl by Caesarean last week. The mother has been told her...
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