Scientists are a step closer to the first pig-to-human transplant after the largest study of long-term effects found no evidence of cross-species infection. The study, published in the journal Science, was carried out by a multi-centre group led by Dr Khazal Paradis of Imutran - the Cambridge-based subsidiary of the drug...
Professor Liam Donaldson, the Chief Medical Officer, announced the membership and terms of reference of the expert group set up to examine the potential benefits and risks of - and alternatives to - therapeutic cloning research. The expert group was established by the UK government to further explore the pros and cons...
The first European legal text on biomedicine will be incorporated into five countries' domestic law in December. The Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine is designed to protect against the misuse of biological and medical developments and was agreed by the Council of Europe after several years of debate. The...
John Prescott, UK's deputy prime minister, has has decided in favour of the Cambridgeshire local planning authority in its dispute with the Wellcome Trust's £100m proposal to extend the Hinxton Genome Campus. Mr Prescott is thought to have been persuaded that the site in Hinxton, outside Cambridge, is not appropriate...
Scientists claim to have identified the genetic basis for monogamy which could lead to a better understanding of psychiatric disorders. Tom Insel and Larry Young from Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia transferred a gene from the sociable, monogamous male prairie vole into male mice. The gene is responsible for making...
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Genetic misnomers
by Professor Marcus Pembrey
Last year it was the 'good mum' gene and now we have the 'perfect husband' gene - the lead story in this week's BioNews. Like it or not, we will have to get used to the idea that genetic variation contributes to variation in behaviour and not just in mice and...