The British media has spent the weekend speculating on a decision expected to be made by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) this week on the vexed issue of 'saviour siblings'. The authority has to decide whether to relax its prohibition on the use of preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD...
The UK's Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) is reported to be considering changing its policy on 'saviour siblings' - babies who are able to provide genetically matched cord blood for an existing sick child. The news follows a recent request from the Fletcher family, who are seeking permission to conceive...
Raj and Shahana Hashmi, the couple who fought for the right to have a tissue-matched IVF baby to save the life of their son Zain, are stopping treatment after six unsuccessful attempts. The couple's doctors are now reluctant to continue because of Shahana's age (40), and because of the stressful...
Restrictive Italian fertility laws, passed in February this year, have been shown to be 'mediaeval' and are again under debate, reports the British Medical Journal (BMJ). The law on IVF procedures requires that no more than three eggs can be fertilised at once, and that all eggs fertilised must be...
BioNews reporting from ESHRE conference, Berlin: Couples at risk of having a child affected by a genetic disease could benefit from new, faster tests to detect gene mutations in IVF embryos, Australian scientists say. The research shows that 'gene chips' can be used to carry out preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD...
BioNews reporting from ESHRE conference, Berlin: According to a study undertaken by German researchers, current legislation in Germany is 'out of step' with public attitudes towards the use of preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD), egg donation and surrogacy. All of these assisted reproduction procedures are currently prohibited in Germany, but the...
Scientists at a private US fertility clinic have developed 12 new embryo stem (ES) cell lines, using embryos donated by couples who underwent preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) to avoid passing on a genetic condition to their child. The cell lines include those carrying gene mutations involved in two forms of...
An infertile Italian couple has been told by a court that they must transplant all embryos they created during IVF treatment, even though it is known that they both carry the gene for thalassaemia, a recessive genetic condition, and that some of their embryos may be affected. The decision of...
Saviour siblings are back in the news. Two developments from the United States show that not only is preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) and tissue typing being used successfully by more and more couples, but also that the majority of Americans support such a use of the technology. According to a...
US doctors report that they have helped five couples to have IVF babies which are able to provide tissue-matched cord blood for ill siblings. Four of the so-called 'saviour siblings' were conceived to help children with leukaemia, while another was born to help Charlie Whitaker, a British boy affected by...
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