A man's fertility starts to decline from the age of 24, according to a new study carried out by researchers based at the UK's Bristol and Brunel Universities. The scientists found that the older a man is, the longer it will take his partner to conceive, regardless of her age...
Fertility experts highlighted the ongoing problem of the 'postcode lottery' provision of fertility treatment in the UK at the Fertility 2000 conference in Edinburgh last week. Lord Robert Winston, of Hammersmith Hospital, London, said that the problems were worse under the current government than the last. 'I am increasingly dissatisfied...
The Indian government has set up a National Bioethics Committee to prepare guidelines for research into genomics, according to a news report in The Lancet last week. The panel will look at ethical issues relating to research in gene therapy, genetic diversity and related areas, and also prepare a national...
Australian prime minister John Howard has expressed his concern at a recent court ruling in favour of a single woman who wants to use vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment to conceive a baby. Lisa Meldrum appealed against the laws of the state of Victoria, citing the federal Sex Discrimination Act, which...
Tony Barlow and Barrie Drewitt, the UK's first gay surrogate fathers, confirmed last week they are expecting more babies. 'We are pregnant with more than one child, but I cannot say more than that at the moment' said Mr Drewitt. The babies will be the biological brothers or sisters of...
UK scientists have shown that bone marrow stem cells, already known to be the precursors of blood cells, can also give rise to adult liver cells. Their findings, published in last week's Nature, have implications for research into new treatments for patients with diseased or damaged livers. 'We may be...
A coalition of US consumer and environmental groups launched a national campaign last week, aimed at stopping food companies from using genetically modified (GM) ingredients. 'This is going to be the first sort of sustained effort on the European model', said Philip E Clapp of the National Environmental Trust, one...
Five new members have been appointed to the UK Gene Therapy Advisory Committee (GTAC), announced Yvette Cooper, the Minister for Public Health, last week. GTAC was formed in 1993, to oversee the ethical aspects of gene therapy clinical trials, and to advise the government on developments in gene therapy research...
Three more US universities have signed up for access to Celera Genomic's gene databases, announced the US company last week. The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, the University of Cincinnati and Ohio State University join Harvard and Vanderbilt University as academic subscribers to Celera's version of the human genome...
The European Commission has indicated it may push through a new directive governing the approval of new types of genetically modified (GM) food. The commission said the time had come to accept that GM food did not pose a serious threat to public health and that new types of GM...
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