The UK Government is set to reform laws regulating human embryology and fertility treatment, and is expected to recommend allowing lesbian couples and single mothers equal access to IVF. The proposed reform was contained in the Queen's Speech, delivered last Wednesday: 'Draft proposals will be published to...
The first babies to be conceived following the use of a new embryo testing technique have been born in the UK. Twins Freddie and Thomas Greenstreet were born at Guy's Hospital, London, after their parents used a procedure called preimplantation genetic haplotyping (PGH) to identify IVF...
By Dr Jess Buxton: Germany's laws restricting research on human embryonic stem (ES) cells are no longer appropriate and need to be relaxed, according to the DFG (German Research Foundation) - the country's main funding agency. Currently, German scientists can undertake research on imported ES cell lines created before January 2002...
The Irish High Court has ruled that frozen embryos are not covered under the 1983 constitutional abortion amendment (Article 40.3.3) protecting the right to life of 'the unborn'. The ruling comes as the second part of the court's previous decision forbidding Mary Roche from implanting her embryos...
Research on newborn babies has found that different characteristics may be attributable to mothers and fathers, with fathers contributing more to post-birth length and mothers determining weight. Researchers at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital have studied 1000 families measuring the weight and height of mothers, fathers...
A team of scientists based in France and Italy have published work showing a huge improvement in the condition of dogs suffering from a canine version of muscular dystrophy when treated with adult stem cells. Duchenne muscular dystrophy is a serious disease that affects 1 in every...
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PGS: select or reject? - it's not just about improving pregnancy rates
by Professor Alan Handyside
Ten years since the first reports of preimplantation genetic diagnosis for abnormal chromosome number, or aneuploidy, (now commonly known as PGS - preimplantation genetic screening), we are experiencing a prejudicial mistrust of a clinical approach that is generally accepted to be scientifically and clinically sound. Opponents of PGS frequently criticise its...