A new study on the effect of single embryo transfer (SET) on pregnancy rates has triggered further calls for the UK's Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) to stick with its existing policy on this issue. The research, published in the journal Human Reproduction, shows that imposing a single embryo...
South Korea's national bioethics committee has produced a report on the 'serious ethical problems' with the donated human eggs used in the recently discredited stem cell research carried out by Woo Suk Hwang and his team. Korea's National Bioethics Board (KNBB) says that the scientists, based at Seoul National University...
A new project looking at the influence of genes on common diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, stroke, osteoporosis, depression and schizophrenia in Scottish people has begun recruiting volunteers. The 'Generation Scotland: Scottish Family Health Study' will initially recruit 15,000 Scots aged between 35 and 55, with the eventual aim...
US researchers have identified a gene mutation linked to a 24-fold increased risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), or 'cot death', in African Americans. The team, based at the University of Chicago, says the altered form of the SCN5A gene makes infants vulnerable to 'environmental challenges' such as...
A US charity has published a report on the worldwide incidence of birth defects and genetic conditions. The March of Dimes Global Report on Birth Defects reveals that six per cent of all babies - nearly eight million infants - are born with congenital health problems each year. Over three million of...
The UK's Human Genetics Commission (HGC) has issued a report that says advances in the techniques that can be used by families at risk of passing on genetic diseases to their children are to be welcomed, but also need careful monitoring. The report, called 'Making Babies: reproductive decisions and genetic...
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Comment
Made in the UK
by James Lawford Davies
The Human Genetics Commission (HGC)'s recent report 'Making Babies: Reproductive decisions and genetic technologies' is the welcome result of two years' consultation and debate. For the most part, the report offers clear and constructive conclusions and recommendations for the future of assisted reproduction and preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD), amongst...
Making Laws about making babies
by Dr Evan Harris
The recent report from the Human Genetics Commission (HGC) - the UK government's advisory body on genetics - 'Making Babies: Reproductive decisions and genetic technologies' is the latest in a series of reports on the state of the law on assisted reproduction in the UK. The House of Commons Science and Technology...