The UK High Court ruled last week that the twin baby girls who were 'bought' over the internet by a British couple had to be returned to America. They are to be handed over to the Division of Family Services in Missouri and will be cared for by foster parents...
A team of American scientists has found a way to turn human fat into various other tissue types. Researchers, led by Dr Marc Hendrick of the University of California in Los Angeles, have shown that stem cells harvested from human fat can be made to grow into muscle cells in...
The world's first litter of transgenic cloned pigs has been produced at PPL Therapeutics, the Edinburgh-based biotech company that worked with the Roslin Institute to create Dolly the sheep. The litter of five genetically modified piglets is part of PPL's attempt to advance towards successful transplanting of pig organs into...
Doctors at the University of California, San Diego, have surgically implanted genetically modified cells into the brain of a patient suffering from Alzheimer's disease. A 60-year old woman was the first person to have gene therapy to combat the effects of the disease, in a procedure that involved drilling...
Older fathers produce children with a much higher risk of developing schizophrenia. Researchers point to 'strong evidence' that men, like women, have a 'biological clock' when it comes to having children, challenging commonly held beliefs that while older women risk having babies with birth defects, men can safely father children...
The Secretary of State for Health, Alan Milburn MP, is expected this week announce this week the government's commitment to the introduction of an explicit ban on human reproductive cloning. In a talk at the Newcastle Centre for Life on Thursday, Milburn will promise that the pledge will be included...
Stay up-to-date on all the latest developments in the fields of human fertility and genomics. And be the first to hear about upcoming events and other announcements.
Comment
Time to be positive about genetics
by Juliet Tizzard
This week's BioNews reports on the UK government's plan to include genetics in its manifesto for this year's general election. Meanwhile, DNA pioneer James Watson, has set out his own stall, arguing that 'fixing' human embryos with faulty genes should be the next goal for genetic science (see Recommends). What...