The South Korean scientists who successfully extracted stem cells from cloned human embryos are now facing questions over the origin of the 247 donated eggs used in their experiments. The Seoul National University team, which published its breakthrough in the journal Science earlier this year, created 30 cloned human embryos...
A new US study calls into question the existence of adult stem cells capable of transforming into insulin-producing pancreatic cells. Previous research in mice has suggested that such cells could be used to develop new treatments for diabetes. But the new study, carried out by scientists at Harvard University in...
Japanese scientists have identified a key gene involved in heart attacks, based on a study of more than 2,600 patients and 2,500 healthy people. The researchers, who published their results in Nature, found that heart attack patients were more likely to have a particular version of a gene involved in...
Maverick Italian fertility doctor Severino Antinori has restated his claims that three cloned babies have been born. Speaking at a press briefing before a conference on reproductive technology in Rome, he refused to give further details and offered no evidence or details about the alleged births. Antinori claimed in 2002...
President Bush is facing mounting pressure to review his three-year old policy on human embryonic stem (ES) cell research. At a gala dinner held on Saturday night for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF), Nancy Reagan, wife of the former US President Ronald Reagan, made a passionate speech imploring the...
Following a letter from Congress members to President Bush last week calling for changes in federal restrictions on embryonic stem (ES) cell research, the White House has announced that it will send a representative to a meeting with the lawmakers to discuss the issue. House of Representatives members Diane De...
A decision about who should be in control of the Spain's first public stem cell bank is closer to being made, now that the two sides to the argument have called a truce. Members of the new Socialist government have agreed to drop legal challenges against the state of Andalusia...
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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Public support is dependent upon health benefits
by Juliet Tizzard
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...