The UK Department of Health has published a review of progress made in the development of genetics services in the UK since the publication of its 2003 White Paper, entitled 'Our inheritance, our future - realising the potential of genetics in the NHS'. The document laid out...
James Watson, one of the scientists who reported the double helix structure of DNA in 1953, has now had his own genetic make-up completely decoded. A paper published in the journal Nature last week describes the sequencing of Watson's genome to reveal the precise order of...
Last week, BioNews published a story about the prosecution and conviction of John Gonzales for fraud, in which we stated that 'Gonzalez's service illustrated a loophole in current UK regulation, which governs frozen gamete storage and use, but not 'fresh' sperm'. It has been pointed out to us that this...
The US Department of Defense has announced a five year program to develop new stem-cell based treatments for service members disfigured from war-time injuries. The new Armed Forces Institute of Regenerative Medicine (AFIRM) will explore the use of a patient's own stem cells to grow replacement...
An international panel of experts has argued that political 'interference' in scientific research should not be based solely on moral or ethical concerns. The Hinxton Group, a group of 40 scientists, bioethicists, lawyers and regulators formed in 2006 to address reproductive technology and policy concerns, made the...
Last Wednesday the Dublin High Court, Ireland denied a sperm donor guardianship and court-ordered access rights to his biological child, born to a lesbian couple. The homosexual 41-year-old friend of the lesbian couple, referred to as 'A', signed a written agreement to donate sperm and not...
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Comment
Debating deafness and embryo selection: Are we undermining reproductive confidence in the deaf community?
by Ailsa Stevens
Clause 14 of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill states that in assisted reproduction, embryos known to be at risk of developing 'serious physical or mental disability' or 'serious illness' must not be preferred to embryos where there is no such risk (1). In the official Explanatory Notes to the...