US company BioArts International has teamed up with disgraced South Korean scientist Hwang Woo-Suk to offer dog cloning services to the public. Five dog owners will be given the opportunity to have their pet cloned in a worldwide auction on 18 June this year, where bidding will...
Researchers at the University of Queensland, Australia, have developed a technique to digitally barcode gene activity, handing scientists a uniquely powerful tool for the prediction and prevention of disease. The fluorescent 'nano-string' is simply added to blood where it binds to a molecule of the researchers' choice...
The House of Commons has rejected a proposed amendment to the new Human Fertilisation and Embryology (HFE) Bill, requiring fertility clinics to consider the 'need for a father' prior to IVF treatment. After a lengthy debate, MPs voted 292 to 217 against the amendment, a majority of...
A legal fight by a UK woman to have a child using sperm taken from her husband after his death is underway. The case highlights the need for regulatory clarity on the issue, which first came to prominence in 1995 when Diane Blood won the right to...
By Katy Sinclair: The UK Government has defeated a bid to prevent the creation of human admixed embryos, after a cross-party attempt to ban the controversial research was lost by 336 votes to 176. The vote followed the debate stage of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill. Amendments to ban...
UK MPs have rejected amendments that sought to outlaw the creation of 'saviour siblings'- babies conceived following embryo testing to ensure their cord blood will provide tissue-matched stem cells for an existing sick child. The controversial clause, contained within the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill before the...
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Half-Truths?: The science, politics and morality of hybrid embryos
by Ailsa Stevens
The creation of human admixed or 'hybrid' embryos - which contain both human and animal material - is perhaps the most controversial aspect of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology (HFE) Bill, and is an issue on which UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown bowed to pressure for a free vote by MPs, following...
Funding for IVF in the UK – over four years of waiting
by Clare Lewis-Jones
Not just one or two, not just a hundred or so, not just several hundred, but probably thousands of couples who need assisted conception treatment such as IVF or ICSI in order to have a child are not able to access that treatment on the NHS...