BioNews
In vitro
Latin for 'within the glass'. Refers to experiments performed in a controlled environment like a test tube or culture media, rather than inside a living organism or cells.
Why the UK should extend the 14-day rule to 28 days
Lecturer in medical ethics at Lancaster University, Dr John Appleby looks at the reasons why the 14-day rule for embryo research was imposed in the first place, and why it should be reconsidered...
Dutch Embryo Act under revision
Ethicists, Professor Wybo Dondorp and Professor Guido de Wert, summarise the 2021 evaluation of the Dutch Embroys Act with regard to the legal definition of an embryo, and how this relates to the recommendation to lift the ban on creating embryos for research...
Genetic and epigenetic causes of IVF embryo arrest discovered
Changes that occur to DNA that could cause IVF embryos to stop dividing have been identified...
Fertility Frontiers: What Is a 'Permitted' Embryo in Law?
The question of what is a 'permitted embryo' under the legislation governing assisted reproduction in the UK has received increasing scrutiny as technological progress challenges the concept of embryohood...
Process for developing organoid models of the cervix published
Details of how to develop three-dimensional organoid models of the cervix have been published...
Precursor to blood-forming stem cells determined in human embryo
Precursors to the stem cells that make blood have been derived in vitro from human pluripotent stem cells for the first time...
Stem-cell-derived rat sperm cells used to produce healthy offspring
Functional sperm have been developed in vitro from rat stem cells and used to fertilise eggs and produce healthy offspring for the first time...