US researchers have identified the faulty gene that causes a rare condition in which the muscles, ligaments and tendons turn into bone. People born with Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva (FOP) gradually become encased in a 'second skeleton', and cannot move. A team based at the University of Pennsylvania has discovered that...
US researchers have identified a set of genetic changes commonly found in people with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), a poorly understood condition for which the exact causes remain unknown. The new research, organised by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, suggests that CFS is actually a collection...
A US court has ruled that the law that created the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) was in fact constitutional. The claimants in the lawsuit challenging the setting up of the CIRM were arguing that the institute, which is authorised to distribute $3 billion in research grants for stem...
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ruled that a British man who is serving a life sentence in prison for murder does not have the right to be allowed access to IVF treatment. Thirty-four year old Kirk Dickson alleged that the UK Government had breached his right to...
A working group of the Church of Scotland has issued a report on a project it undertook to revisit the clinical, theological and ethical issues surrounding embryonic (ES) stem cell research. The group's report recommends that the Church of Scotland alters its current policy on the scientific technique. The Society...
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Comment
Encouraging openness in gamete donation families
by Dr Fiona MacCallum
Last week Reuters news service reported on the findings of a study by Clare Murray, Susan Golombok, and myself. The research was the most recent in a series of studies of parents and children in families created through infertility treatment conducted by the research team previously based at City University...
IVF: The continuing agony of treatment by postcode or bank balance
by Clare Lewis-Jones
It is now five years since the UK Government asked the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) to produce guidelines for the treatment of infertility. It is now four years since the Prime Minister, The Right Honourable Mr Tony Blair MP, said in his message of support to...