The Senate of the US state of Maryland has approved a bill that would establish guidelines for state funding of stem cell research, by 29 votes to 18. However, unlike the bill passed recently by the House of Delegates (HB1), which would authorise $25 million for such work, the Senate...
US researchers are set to test a fetal nerve stem cell treatment for Batten disease, a rare and currently incurable genetic brain disorder. Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) says the trial aims to test the safety of the approach, since transplants of purified nerve stem cells have never been...
People who break down caffeine slowly could be increasing their risk of a heart attack if they drink large amounts of coffee, say Canadian researchers. The team, based at the University of Toronto, says that a genetic variation affecting caffeine breakdown in the body could help explain conflicting results on...
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has issued its judgment in the case of Evans v the United Kingdom. Natallie Evans, a British woman seeking the right to be able to use her own frozen IVF embryos, asked the court last September to rule whether UK law preventing her...
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Comment
The Hinxton consensus: a guiding light for scientists in international stem cell research
by Dr Sarah Chan
Since its origins eight years ago, the field of human embryonic stem (ES) cell research has stirred perhaps more ethical debate than any other scientific advance of recent years. Between the age-old arguments regarding embryo research, debates about egg donation, false claims regarding human cloning and recent furore over scientific...
Last Chances, Lost Opportunities and Legal Contortions
by Professor Hazel Biggs
Last week in the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) Natallie Evans lost her battle to be permitted to try for a pregnancy using embryos that she and her former partner, Howard Johnston, created before she was rendered infertile by cancer treatment. The case is emotive in its subject matter...
The Spanish Law on Assisted Reproduction
by Dr Anna Veiga
When the first law on assisted reproduction was approved in Spain in 1988 (Law 35/88), very few countries had legislation concerning the use of assisted reproductive technologies (ART). That law allowed controlled activity in the field, and most of the professionals involved found it appropriate at that time. However...