Researchers are concerned that embryo research is under threat from a proposed steep rise in the fees required to undertake such work, the Scientist magazine reports. The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), which licenses all work carried out on human embryos in the UK, is consulting about its proposals...
In the latest twist in the cloning debate in the US state of Louisiana, amendments to a bill that would ban all forms of human cloning have been rejected by the Senate because of what is seen to be 'conflicting' language. The bill (SB 873, sponsored by Senator Arthur Lentini...
A study, published in the advance online edition of the journal Human Reproduction this week, warns women that the availability of assisted reproduction techniques cannot compensate for 'waiting too long to start a family'. Women who delay trying to have their first child until they are 35 and then find...
Stem cells are notoriously hard to grow outside the body, but a new use of miniaturisation and robotics brings finding optimum growth conditions a step closer. The new research, which borrowed high throughput 'chip' techniques from genetics, focused on making epithelial cells from human embryonic stem (ES) cells. It is...
Genes can affect a person's response to statins, drugs used to lower blood cholesterol levels, say US researchers. Researchers at the Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston say their study shows that knowledge about the interaction between genes and drugs is growing 'in leaps and bounds'. Their findings, published in...
Researchers have discovered a way of predicting the start of the menopause. The technique, developed by Dr Hamish Wallace, lead researcher at Edinburgh University's Department of Reproductive and Developmental Science, and Dr Thomas Kelsey, a computer scientist from the University of St Andrews, promises women a chance to plan their...
Despite calls from members of both political parties in the US House of Representatives and Senate, as well as celebrities and the Reagan family, President Bush has no plans to change his policy on human embryonic stem (ES) cell research. Recently, cross-party groups - 206 members of Congress and 58 from...
Canadian doctors have reported a new method for preserving the fertility of women undergoing cancer treatment, which they say offers an alternative to embryo and ovarian tissue freezing. In a recent letter to the Lancet medical journal, the team describe the removal of immature eggs from the ovaries of young...
Scientists from Newcastle University in the UK are hoping to gain approval for a licence to clone human embryos for stem cell research into diabetes, according to the UK's Observer newspaper. The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) is considering the application from the International Centre for Life, having already...
According to an article in the UK's Sunday Times newspaper, maverick fertility doctor Panos Zavos will open a clinic in central London this summer, where he will offer consultations to infertile couples about the use of reproductive cloning. Last year, Zavos made unsubstantiated claims that he had transplanted a cloned...
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Menopause test is good news for women
by Juliet Tizzard
British researchers have, this week, announced the development of a new test which could tell women when they are likely to reach the menopause. Scientists already know that the women reach the menopause at a remarkably variable age because the number of egg follicles - set whilst still in their mother's...