The addition of one or more nucleotide base pairs into a DNA sequence. Insertions into the coding region of gene (insertion mutations) often stop the gene working.
Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, US, have developed a new, safer method for creating induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells - adult cells made to behave like stem cells by inserting four key genes. Previously these genes have been delivered into cells using retroviruses, which can potentially trigger...
Scientists at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute and the Columbia University Medical Center in the US have reprogrammed the skin cells of two patients with amyloid lateral sclerosis (ALS), making induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells. The stem cells were then used to generate motor neurons - the nerve...
The creation of human/animal admixed or 'hybrid' embryos is happening at a rapid rate, according to the experts developing them at Newcastle University, who say that the process is easier than they initially thought. Speaking at the BIO biotechnology conference in San Diego last week, Dr...
US stem cell researchers have called for prohibitions on the payment of compensation to egg donors to be removed if an egg shortage crisis is to be avoided. In an article published in Nature last week, Kevin Eggan and Douglas Melton from Harvard University's Stem Cell Institute...
The creation of human admixed or 'hybrid' embryos - which contain both human and animal material - is perhaps the most controversial aspect of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology (HFE) Bill, and is an issue on which UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown bowed to pressure for a free vote by MPs, following...
By Katy Sinclair: The UK Government has defeated a bid to prevent the creation of human admixed embryos, after a cross-party attempt to ban the controversial research was lost by 336 votes to 176. The vote followed the debate stage of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill. Amendments to ban...
A new study, published in the journal Nature, has mapped the genome of eight individuals and revealed large regions of genetic variability. An international collaboration led by Evan Eichler at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute compared the genome of four African, two Asian, and two European individual...
By Katy Sinclair: Christian groups have instigated a judicial review of the decision by the UK's Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) to grant licences to create human hybrid embryos for stem cell research. The Christian Legal Centre (CLC) along with Comment on Reproductive Ethics (Core) will argue that the...
The head of Scotland's Catholic Church, Cardinal Keith O'Brien - who in his Easter Sunday sermon attacked the government's proposal to allow research using inter-species or human 'admixed' embryos, calling it 'government supported experiments of Frankenstein proportions' - said he would be 'only too happy' to attend a meeting...
Japanese researchers announced last week that they have advanced their understanding and ability to safely 'reprogramme' adult stem cells to resemble embryonic stem (ES) cells without inducing tumours or harmful genetic abnormalities. The Japanese team of researchers, lead by Dr Shinya Yamanaka at Kyoto University, reprogrammed liver...
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