A black American couple have succeeded in gaining compensation from an infertility clinic after their IVF embryo was mistakenly implanted into another woman. The clinic has agreed to pay an undisclosed sum to the couple, whose treatment took place in 1998, in return for their agreement not to proceed with...
The first clinical trial based on a promising new technology called RNA interference (RNAi) is set to begin in the US, to treat a progressive eye disorder. The researchers hope to test the safety of the technique for treating a disease called wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD). This condition, which...
BioNews reporting from the BSHG conference, York: It is vital to record the recent history of human genetics in the UK before crucial documents are lost and key scientists retire, says Professor Peter Harper, of the University of Wales College of Medicine. Speaking at the annual conference of the British...
US researchers have unveiled a complete 'gold-standard' version of the DNA sequence of human chromosome five. Consisting of 181 million base-pairs (chemical 'letters') of DNA, chromosome five is the largest human chromosome analysed in detail to date. However, despite its size it contains relatively few genes - just 923 - compared to...
Calls have been made for the resignation of Italian Health Minister Girolamo Sirchia, the man behind the country's restrictive fertility laws. The call comes after news that a five year old boy suffering from Cooley's anaemia had been cured by 'adult' stem cells taken from the umbilical cord of his...
BioNews reporting from the BSHG conference, York: Most genetics professionals think that research ethics committees (RECs) currently hinder, rather than help their research projects, according to the outcome of a debate held at the annual British Society of Human Genetics (BSHG) meeting. Less than ten per cent of around 200...
Italian researchers say that they have achieved 13 births using eggs that had been frozen and thawed before being fertilised and implanted into a woman. According to the researchers, who publish their findings in the September edition of the journal Fertility and Sterility, the study indicates that the promise of...
Germany's National Ethics Council (NEC) has announced that it will continue to oppose the cloning of human embryos for research despite calls for the prohibition to be lifted. Edelgard Bulmahn, Minister of Education and Research, who presented the Council's decision, stated that 'the moratorium is appropriate for the current stage...
A genetic test that helps predict how people will react to certain medicines has been approved for sale in the European Union, Swiss firm Roche Diagnostics has announced. The test, called the AmpliChip CYP450, detects variations in two genes that make key liver enzymes. Variations in the activity of these...
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Comment
Time to untangle ethical review of genetic research
by Professor Richard Ashcroft and 1 others
It is well recognised that genetic research raises ethical issues, such as the implications of increasing geno-centrism in healthcare. However the research process itself has attracted less attention. Most, if not all, genetic research in the United Kingdom is reviewed by a NHS Research Ethics Committee. This review typically doesn't...
Is the Internet replacing the local infertility support group?
by Julie Hinks
Traditionally, infertility support groups have offered patients the opportunity to meet others in a similar situation to themselves so they could share experiences and give each other support. In Bristol we had a very active donor insemination support group in the 1980s and an IVF support group in the 1990s...