Women with poor egg (or oocyte) quality could double their chance of becoming pregnant through IVF if given melatonin, researchers have found. The work was presented at the World Congress of Fertility and Sterility in Munich last week...
Scientists claim to have developed a new technique for sperm preservation, which allows more functioning sperm to be recovered. The Chilean and German team reportedly used vitrification, which is currently used for cryopreserving ('freezing') eggs and embryos, to successfully preserve sperm...
Higher fertilisation rates have been found in women undergoing IVF in spring, according to new research presented at the World Congress of Fertility and Sterility last week...
An international team of researchers has identified a new gene, CYMA5, which is thought to be associated with schizophrenia...
Many women face fertility problems following treatment for cancer. However, a US research team has offered new hope to female cancer patients wishing to have children, by creating the world’s first artificial ovary capable of developing human egg cells....
A new way to restore ovarian function in rats has been discovered, scientists say, which may lead to future treatments for women with premature ovarian failure (POF)...
A patient with the genetic blood disorder beta-thalassaemia has been successfully treated using genetically-altered stem cells, according to US and French researchers...
Chemical modifications to genes over a person's lifetime may influence their weight without changing their inherited DNA sequence, a new study has found. This is the first time long-standing chemical alterations to genes have been linked to body weight and obesity...
A Canadian doctor is being sued by two of his patients who discovered their children were not genetically related to the believed donors, reports the Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail...
A Cypriot fertility clinic has closed down after questions about its involvement in selling human eggs. The clinic, situated in the village of Zygi, Southern Cyprus, dealt mostly with donors from Eastern Europe, AFP news agency reports...
Scientists from the UK and China are collaborating to study epigenetic signatures that mark the differences between 5,000 twins. Those affected by diabetics and osteoporosis are just some of the people who could be set to benefit from the £20 million 'Epitwin' project....
Two men prosecuted for illegally providing fresh sperm over the internet have been convicted at Southwark Crown Court. Ricky Gage, 49, and Nigel Woodforth, 43, operated a website called Fertility 1st through which fertility patients could select from a database of sperm donors and order 'fresh' sperm to be directly delivered, for a fee, to their door....
Scientists have pinpointed a handful of genes that contribute small, but significant, amounts to the happiness of some individuals. So is there some truth in the idea that our genes somehow limit our capacity for happiness? This is the backdrop for American author Richard Powers' latest novel Generosity...
Comment
BioNews survey 2010: The results
by Kerry Dyus
We have now analysed the results of our recent BioNews readership survey. Thank you to the 611 readers who took the time to complete the survey - a record number of respondents, perhaps because this was the first survey our readers could complete on our website...
Porn in the NHS: A matter of perspective
by Dr Alan Thornhill
Julia Manning's report 'Who said pornography was acceptable in the workplace? An investigation into the use of pornography by NHS fertility clinics' is disturbing. All that is missing from this supposed expose is the human story...