A Canadian study published last week suggests that exposure to organic solvents may affect male fertility. The research indicates that men who work as painters, decorators, dry-cleaners, printers or builders, for example, where repeated exposure to solvents occurs, may be twice as likely to have low sperm counts. Men with...
Scientists including Dr Anne McLaren of the Wellcome/CRC Institute at Cambridge University and Member of the HFEA, and Professor Ian Wilmut of the Roslin Institute in Edinburgh, will be boycotting the First International Symposium on Cloning, due to be held in Monte Carlo next month. The symposium was to...
The stem cell debate in America continues. The US National Academy of Sciences, an advisory body to the government, has produced a report stating that the 64 embryonic stem cell lines identified by Bush as eligible for federally funded research will not be enough to progress with the science. It...
In an ongoing case, the Australian High Court is being asked to decide whether a Federal Court decision to allow single women access to IVF will stand. Last year, a court ruled in favour of IVF access for Lisa Meldrum, a single woman, when she appealed against the laws of...
Scientists from Imperial College in London have identified a gene that causes children to be born with cleft palates. The scientists discovered that mutations in the T-box 22 gene cause the sex-linked form of the condition, known as CPX, and also another condition known as 'tongue-tie'. The leader of the...
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A right to two parents?
by Juliet Tizzard
Should IVF and donor insemination (DI) be available only to married women? This is a debate preoccupying the Australian High Court at the moment, as it seeks to find a resolution to a growing legal and political battle of wills. Although a decision may be some time coming, the judges...