Following last week's news that supporters of a ban on all forms of human cloning had re-introduced legislation to the US Senate, Senators Orrin Hatch, Diane Feinstein, Arlen Specter, Edward Kennedy and Tom Harkin have this week introduced competing legislation. The Human Cloning Ban and Stem Cell Research Protection Act...
Matilda, Australia's first cloned sheep, has died suddenly from an unknown cause. Normally sheep have an average life-expectancy of 12-14 years, but Matilda was just three years old. Rob Lewis, director of the South Australian Research Institute said that Matilda was not found until the day after her death...
American researchers have found that high levels of lead in the environment may be the cause of some cases of unexplained infertility in men. In a study, published in the journal Human Reproduction, they warn that environmental lead exposure limits should be re-evaluated in the light of their findings. The...
Researchers have discovered that the quality of a man's sperm decreases with age and that the male 'biological clock' begins ticking while they are in their 20s. Men, however, lose their fertility more gradually than women. The research team, from the University of California, Berkeley, US, examined semen from nearly...
The UK's human genetics government watchdog is set to recommend new controls on predictive genetic tests sold direct to the public. The Human Genetics Commission (HGC) considered the findings of its recent public consultation on the issues surrounding such tests at its quarterly meeting, held last Wednesday. Chair Baroness Helena...
US scientists have managed to remove individual genes from human embryo stem cells, the body's master cells that can potentially grow into any type of tissue. The research, published in the journal Nature Biotechnology, is a step towards developing new cell therapies for diseases such as Parkinson's disease and diabetes...
UK and Dutch researchers have launched a major new study to identify human genes involved in cancer. The project, funded by Cancer Research UK and the Netherlands Cancer Institute, aims to look at 10,000 of the estimated 35,000 different genes that make up the human genome. Using a powerful new...
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Regulating DIY genetic tests
by Juliet Tizzard
In last week's BioNews, we reported on a story that the Human Genetics Commission was about to allow 'lifestyle' genetic tests to be offered direct to the public without regulatory oversight. According to an article in the Times, two pressure groups were concerned that such tests are 'potentially harmful and...