The UK's Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) is reported to have said that it wants to begin to monitor the long-term health of children born from IVF and related fertility treatments. In particular, it will focus on the possible effects of ICSI (intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection), a procedure in which...
A man's fertility may be affected by his weight, a new study shows. Men who are either too fat or too thin may find that they have lower sperm counts, often low enough to be classed as 'impaired fertility'. The study, undertaken by researchers in Denmark and published in the...
The UK's Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has issued a licence allowing doctors to test embryos for a gene mutation that confers a high risk of bowel cancer. Four couples at risk of passing on familial adenomatous polyposis coli (FAP) to their children are now set to undergo the...
In the final run-up to the US presidential election on 2 November, both candidates have been heavily campaigning, including on the issue of embryonic stem (ES) cell research. Democratic candidate Senator John Kerry promises to abandon the restrictions placed on ES cell research by Bush in 2001. Bush's policy limits...
Two new studies suggest that at least 25 per cent of the embryonic stem (ES) cell lines available for use by federally-funded US researchers have 'little potential even as research tools'. This is because they are too difficult to keep alive and were initially grown using mouse 'feeder' cells, which...
Two new studies show that cell transplants could be used to treat people with vision problems. US scientists have managed to restore the sight of a woman affected by retinitis pigmentosa, an inherited eye disease. However, the research has sparked controversy, since the team used a sheet of retinal cells...
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Who should make decisions about embryo tests?
by Dr Jess Buxton
This week, BioNews reports on the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA)'s decision to allow four couples to use embryo gene-testing to avoid passing on hereditary bowel cancer. The licence, granted to a team working at University College Hospital in London, is likely to set a precedent for other...