Two teams of scientists have published research that suggests that adult stem cells may not have the as much potential to develop into other kinds of body cell as was previously thought. A team of researchers from the University of Florida, US, cultured stem cells taken from the bone marrow...
A new culprit for the decline in male fertility in Britain may have been identified. Scientists have claimed that chemicals that are known to have been responsible for causing male fish to change sex could also affect human fertility if they find their way into drinking water. Research undertaken by...
A hospital in Edinburgh, Scotland, has warned that sperm samples stored for nearly 300 of its cancer patients may have been damaged by a faulty freezer. The sperm samples had been stored at the Western General Hospital because of the risk that cancer treatments might damage the men's fertility. It...
A UK-based genetics 'watchdog' has criticised a firm which was selling a genetic testing kit through the national chain of Body Shop stores. GeneWatch UK says that the kit, made by Sciona, is a 'rip-off' and misleads the public. The kit has been defended by both the Body Shop and...
The two largest groups of Orthodox Jews in the US expressed their support for therapeutic cloning last week. In a joint statement, the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, which represents about 1000 synagogues, and the Rabbinical Council of America, which has a membership of over 1000 Rabbis, said...
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Surprises in stem cell research
by Dr Jess Buxton
This week's BioNews reports on two important new studies in the field of adult stem cell research. Both call into question the much-hyped potential of these cells to grow into new body tissues, and have rendered those who oppose embryo stem cell research uncharacteristically speechless. Pro-life and religious groups with...