A select committee of the UK House of Lords decided last week to allow scientists in the UK to create and carry out research on human embryo clones. The committee was established last year to examine whether cloning embryos was necessary for the development of stem cell research. The select...
The decision of the House of Lords select committee meant that the UK's Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) could begin to issue research licences for embryo stem cell research. Two groups have so far been granted licences by the HFEA, one based at Edinburgh University and the other at...
A woman who will develop Alzheimer's disease at an early age has given birth to a baby that will never develop the disease. The mother is a carrier of an inherited genetic mutation which predisposes her to early-onset Alzheimer's. Scientists in Chicago used pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) to screen embryos...
A report published in Nature Medicine last week has cast more doubt on the safety of cloning. Scientists from the University of Cincinnati, US, say that some cloned mice became obese, even though they were fed normally and were active. Dr Randall Sakai, leader of the research team said that...
Experts on issues in genetics and biotechnology have met in New York to help United Nations (UN) delegates draft an international treaty that will prohibit human reproductive cloning. The New York meeting is the first in a series of meetings of a committee set up last November, following requests for...
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Time to let the science begin
by Dr Jess Buxton
Last week, a House of Lords select committee gave UK scientists a long-awaited green light to begin new research on human embryo stem cells. Within days, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority had granted its first licences, allowing two research groups to finally begin vital experiments aimed at developing new...