French scientists have used mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells to repair damaged heart muscle in sheep. The team, based at the National Center for Scientific Research in Montpellier, successfully transplanted ES cells into nine animals. One month after the procedure, the treated sheep had healthier heart tissue than sheep that...
An editorial by three London-based senior clinicians in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) warns women about 'leaving it too late' to start a family. Susan Bewley, consultant obstetrician at Guy's and St Thomas'; Melanie Davies, consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist at the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Hospital at University College Hospital and...
Men and women born following a pregnancy affected by pre-eclampsia can both pass an increased risk of the condition on to the next generation, a Norwegian study has found. Scientists at the University of Bergen used data from the country's birth registry to show that daughters of women affected by...
A Danish company is planning to use clinics on ships anchored off-shore to provide prohibited fertility treatments to the inhabitants of countries in which they are banned. This includes the provision of anonymous sperm for people seeking sperm donors in the UK. If anchored in international waters, ships are governed...
Stem cell researcher Professor Miodrag Stojkovic, head of the pioneering Newcastle team that was granted the first UK licence to clone human embryos, has announced that he is leaving the UK for a better funded position in Spain. Professor Stojkovic's team worked closely with Professor Alison Murdoch, head of the...
A study for Norwich Union Healthcare has shown that more than 2.5 million men in the UK could have fertility problems. The researchers asked doctors in general practice (GPs) about male infertility, finding that a nearly a third of them worried that declining male fertility will impact on an already...
Israeli scientists have obtained early sheep embryos after transplanting whole ovaries that had been frozen and thawed. The researchers, based at the Institute of Animal Science, Agriculture Research Organisation, Bet Dagan, report that the ovaries were still working normally three years after the transplant. They say their findings, published in...
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Comment
A woman's age is just one factor affecting fertility
by Dr Jess Buxton
Predictably enough, last week's short editorial in the British Medical Journal advising women that waiting until their thirties to start a family 'defies nature and risks heartbreak' generated reams of media coverage. The article itself blamed a 'distorted and uninformed view from society, employers and health planners', and called for...