A survey undertaken in the UK suggests that major reasons why couples fail to achieve pregnancy are their lifestyle, and the increased age at which people tend to have children. The survey, conducted by Pregnancy and Birth magazine, found that many people do not take enough care of themselves and...
A German government advisory council has recommended a new law to prevent employers from using genetic test results to discriminate against employees, the British Medical Journal reports. However, the National Ethics Council's recommendations have been described as a step backwards by the country's Green Party. All the political parties are...
A sperm bank based in Tokyo is causing controversy by offering to match surrogate mothers and assisted conception services in South Korea to Japanese couples. The service has been offered from the beginning of the year and the company - called Excellence - reports that it already has two customers on its...
Scientists have unveiled a completed version of the entire chimpanzee genome, after publishing a rough draft in December 2003. The international team, which reported its findings in the latest issue of Nature, says that chimps share 96 per cent of their genetic material with humans. And the DNA that makes...
In Australia, a public consultation on two pieces of federal legislation which govern cloning and embryonic stem (ES) cell research is due to end this week. The two Acts, passed in 2002, together ban reproductive cloning, prevent scientists from cloning embryos to obtain stem cells and restrict them to research...
Dutch researchers have confirmed that men who inherit a faulty version of the BRCA2 gene - linked to an increased risk of breast and ovarian cancer in women - are at a higher risk of certain other cancers. The scientists, based at Leiden University Medical Centre, found that men with BRCA2 gene...
Australian researchers have found that mothers who have children after fertility treatment face a higher risk of suffering from postnatal depression and difficulties with early parenting. Reporting in the journal Fertility and Sterility, the scientists, who are based at the University of Melbourne, suggest that a history of difficulties with...
A couple living in County Londonderry have spoken to the press about their decision to collect stem cells from their newborn baby's umbilical cord. The cells are to be stored for possible use later in his life, to help treat a number of diseases or conditions he might develop. The...
UK scientists have directed human embryonic stem (ES) cells to become lung cells, bringing the prospect of building lungs artificially for transplant surgery a step closer. Scientists from Imperial College London, led by Dame Professor Julia Polak, caused ES cells to develop into mature small airway epithelium cells, which line...
A survey that asked 2432 members of the UK public about its attitudes to current ethical and moral issues in medicine shows that most are in favour of some embryo and stem cell research, but draw the line at human reproductive cloning. It also shows that people think the time...
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Comment
IVF is not just about biology
by Doriver Lilley
As reported in this week's BioNews, Australian researchers have recently published a study which shows mothers who conceive following IVF are four times more likely to suffer from post natal depression. However, I would present that as only one of a number of negative factors more common to this group...