A person's drinking habits, and possibly their tendency to become addicted to alcohol, may be influenced by differences in a key brain chemical gene, say UK researchers. Scientists based at the Universities of Bristol and Oxford found that people with a particular version of the DRD2 gene drink less alcohol...
A Church of England curate has failed in her attempt to bring criminal charges against two doctors who terminated a pregnancy affected by cleft lip and palate. The abortion was carried out after 24 weeks, which is permitted in the UK if there is a risk of serious disability. The...
Researchers lead by a team at the UK's Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute have published a detailed analysis of the human X-chromosome, one of the two chromosomes that determines sex. An accompanying study uncovered the surprise finding that women have two active copies of many X-chromosome genes. Previously, scientists believed that...
Researchers at the University of Louvain in Brussels, Belgium, say that a second woman there has had a successful ovarian tissue transplant. The 28-year old woman - who had ovarian tissue removed in 1999 before undergoing radiotherapy for sickle-cell anaemia, a treatment that can render women infertile - has started to...
A survey of 561 American women undergoing treatment for infertility shows that 41 per cent would choose the sex of their baby, if sex selection was offered at no additional cost. However, it seems that any fears about sex selection causing gender imbalances are unfounded, say the researchers, as the...
New federal legislation that would ban all forms of human cloning has been introduced to both the US Senate and Congress. Senators Sam Brownback and Mary Landrieu have co-sponsored the Senate bill and Representatives Dave Weldon and Bart Stupak are sponsoring the bill in Congress. All of the sponsors have...
Two teams of researchers have successfully treated mice affected by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), using a novel form of gene therapy. The achievement offers hope that the technique, known as RNA interference (RNAi), will lead to new therapies for a range of diseases. The scientists, based in Switzerland and the...
A US company offering genetic tests direct to customers has attracted criticism for not offering patients adequate care, the British Medical Journal (BMJ) reports. But DNA Direct, which offers tests for susceptibility to breast and ovarian cancer via the internet, says it offers customers exactly the same counselling and testing...
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Comment
Donor anonymity, expenses and payments: why were clinics not prepared?
by Professor Martin Johnson
In their commentary article 'Recruiting egg donors after the removal of anonymity', (BioNews 299, 14/3/05), Alan Thornhill and Ian Craft of the London Fertility Centre lament the fact that the Department of Health (after wide consultation) abolished donor anonymity before addressing the issue of allowable expenses. Their memories...