A rough draft of the entire human genetic code was unveiled today, hailed as 'Biology's Apollo landing', 'the outstanding achievement of human history' and even as 'the language in which God created Life' (Bill Clinton). Does the first proof of our DNA dictionary really deserve such hyperbole? After all, even...
US scientists based at the University of California School of Medicine, Los Angeles (UCLA), have developed a new, non-invasive technique for delivering genes to the brain. It opens the way for gene therapies for Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease, as well as genetic conditions such as Gaucher's and Tay Sach's disease...
Dr Austin Smith, of the Centre for Genome Research, Edinburgh, has called for a change in the law, to allow couples to donate embryos for research into stem cell therapies. Dr Smith told the Guardian newspaper that attempts to find the Holy Grail of frontier medical research 'were being hampered...
An international consortium has finished reading the entire genetic code of chromosome 21, the smallest human chromosome. It is the second human chromosome to be completely decoded, following the deciphering of chromosome 22 last December. The scientists, from Japan, Germany, France, Switzerland, the USA and the UK, will publish their...
A team of French scientists at the Necker Hospital, Paris, has successfully used gene therapy to treat two babies born with a life-threatening genetic condition that affects the immune system. Usually, babies with severe combined immune deficiency (SCID) X1 have to live in sterile 'bubbles' to avoid any infections. But...
The Human Genome Project is nearly finished and will soon change all our lives overnight. Or so you might think, given the regular media coverage biology's biggest project receives. Last week, the reports were of biotech firm Celera Genomics, lambasted by their public sector rivals for claiming they had 'nearly...
The UK government's public consultation on genetic tests and insurance has sparked worries of a 'genetic underclass' in the British media. The Genetics and Insurance Committee (GAIC) has just completed a public consultation on the criteria it will use to evaluate the use of certain genetic tests for insurance purposes...
A couple whose only daughter died following a bonfire accident last July have applied to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) for permission to try and conceive a baby girl through in vitro fertilisation (IVF). Louise and Alan Masterton want to use an embryo screening technique - preimplantation genetic diagnosis...
Press coverage of a report recently published by the Advisory Committee on Genetic Testing on the subject of Prenatal Genetic Testing suggests that a radically new service is being proposed, involving the 'mass genetic testing of pregnant women' with the attendant risk of a slippery slope towards the creation of...
The UK's Advisory Committee on Genetic Testing (ACGT) sent out guidelines on prenatal testing to health authorities across the country this week. The recommendations say that a range of genetic tests should be made available to more pregnant women. A spokesman for the Department of Health said that they wanted...
Subscribe for free to what PET does best – informing you of the latest in fertility, genomics and embryo research.
