James Watson addressed a celebration dinner in London last Wednesday, held to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of the DNA double helix. The 3D structure of DNA, which was discovered by Watson along with Francis Crick, Rosalind Franklin and Maurice Wilkins, was published in Nature on 25 April...
Dr Ian Wilmut, one of the scientists responsible for the cloning of Dolly the sheep in 1996 and now head of a new department of gene expression and development at Edinburgh's Roslin Institute, has announced plans to clone a human embryo for research purposes. Wilmut, who says that he will...
Cloned piglets vary as much as those from a naturally bred litter, according to a new US study. The researchers, based at the North Carolina State University and Texas A & M University, found that the amount of variation in appearance, physiology and behaviour within a cloned litter can even exceed...
Scientists have discovered that injections of (adult) stem cells taken from patient's own bone marrow can be used to help them recover from heart failure. The technique was tested on 21 people with so-called 'end stage' heart failure, and it was found that the health of 13 of those was...
Dr Carole Gilling-Smith, from the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in London, has called for the UK government to support the use of a 'sperm washing' technique for HIV patients. The technique, which involves the use of fertility treatments, may enable HIV positive men to have children with less risk of...
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
Defending 'secrecy': why removing donor anonymity is not a good idea
by Professor Ainsley Newson
Should children conceived through the use of donated gametes have access to information identifying their donors when they reach maturity? The UK Government is expected soon to decide that, from now on, the answer to this question is to be 'yes'. But is this a good idea? Even though there...
Should HIV positive people become parents?
by Juliet Tizzard
This week's BioNews reports on a doctor's plea to make sperm washing for HIV positive men available on the National Health Service (NHS). Is it reasonable to ask that health authorities assist individuals or couples to become parents when they have such a serious health status? Once upon a time...