Speculation about a merger between pharmaceutical giants Glaxo Wellcome and SmithKline Beecham has been recently resumed. A leaked report has suggested that Sir Richard Sykes may step down earlier than expected from his position as chairman of Glaxo Wellcome to take an academic position at Imperial College, London. He was...
A randomised trial and cost-effectiveness comparison of intrauterine insemination (IUI) and in vitro-fertilisation (IVF) in couples affected by idiopathic or male subfertility has been undertaken by Dutch scientists. The trial groups were treated with either IUI, IUI with mild ovarian stimulation, or IVF. The results, published in the Lancet, have...
The MRC Reproductive Biology unit in Edinburgh is seeking Scottish men aged 20 to 30 to volunteer for a large-scale study of sperm quality. It is hoped that 1000 men will provide sperm samples 'in the comfort of their own homes' and take them to the Post Office. Normally, sperm...
The three-week-old surrogate-born twins of a British homosexual couple have been refused official entry into the UK. The twins and their fathers were detained by immigration officers at Heathrow airport as the family tried to return to their UK home, and the passports of the children have been confiscated. The...
The Department of Health has released details of appointments to the new Human Genetics Commission (HGC). The HGC replaces and extends the ambit of the Advisory Committee on Genetic Testing, the Advisory Group on Scientific Advances in Genetics and the Human Genetics Advisory Commission. The commission is to be chaired...
Some progress has been made in the study of the potential applications of a non-hormonal male contraceptive pill. Somewhat ironically, the same technique may also have an effect on the treatment of some forms of male infertility. A letter published in Nature has detailed a scientific study on the gene...
Reports of herds of identical cattle have been raised by the news that Japanese and American scientists have successfully cloned six calves from a bull's ear. The information has been leaked from a research paper awaiting publication, written by scientists from Connecticut University in America and the Kagoshima Prefectural Cattle...
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Comment
The folly of predicting the future
by Juliet Tizzard
Pity the poor journalist at this time of year. Because most of us are off enjoying ourselves, there's very little news to write about. And then there's the pressure from the editor to write something interesting about the previous year and something insightful about the one to come. How much...