In a study published this week in the Archives of Internal Medicine a link has been made between male infertility and testicular germ cell cancer. The research, lead by Dr Thomas Walsh at the University of California San Francisco, studied data collected from 22,562 male partners of...
New research into the role played by the FTO gene in obesity has been published in the journal Nature, showing that the gene may function in metabolism. The FTO (fat-mass and obesity associated) gene has been linked to obesity in the past, which has provoked much interest...
Researchers from the University of the Basque Country (UPV-EHU) have developed a new mathematical classification scheme that can be used to select embryos for use in assisted reproduction treatments. The Spanish scientists presented this 'intelligent system' of support for infertility treatments in the journal Computer Methods and...
A report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, made available online last week, has shed new light on how teeth grow. A gene has been identified as essential for the formation of enamel in the early stages of tooth development. Professors Chrissa Kioussi and...
Rare Disease UK (www.raredisease.org.uk) and the Genetic Interest Group (www.gig.org.uk) are organising activities around International Rare Disease Day on 28th February 2009, including three parliamentary receptions to raise the profile of rare diseases and to campaign for the development of a National Plan. A...
Research published in Nature Neuroscience last week shows that child abuse can alter the expression of a gene that regulates the way the brain controls the stress response. The study was conducted by researchers at the Douglas Mental Health University Institute and McGill University in Montreal, Canada...
Researchers in the UK and Canada have successfully created induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells suitable for potential future use in humans. iPS cells are adult cells (in this case skin cells) that have been reprogrammed into a pluripotent embryonic-like state, able to divide into any cell in...
Last Friday, the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (GGC) reversed its decision to refuse a lesbian couple IVF treatment after the couple launched a legal challenge against the local health board's decision to consider homosexual couples ineligible for fertility treatment because neither partner is medically infertile and...
Variations in a gene called IFRD1, linked to activity of white blood cells called neutrophils, may be involved in the severity of symptoms for patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) , according to a new US study published in Nature. CF is a life-limiting inherited disease in which the...
Whether a person looks on the brighter side of life may be the result of a gene variation, claims a study published last week. Published in the journal 'Proceedings of the Royal Society B', the study claims that different versions of a particular gene, which affects levels...
Subscribe for free to what PET does best – informing you of the latest in fertility, genomics and embryo research.
Comment
Pressure is mounting on PCTs for NHS funding
by Clare Lewis-Jones
I welcome the letter from Alan Doran, Interim Chief Executive of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) to all Directors of Public Health in England on the subject of multiple births and commissioning IVF services. Why? Let's be honest! In England, even before the move to single embryo transfer...
Towards commodification? A response to the Court of Appeal judgment on compensation for lost sperm
by Professor Heather Widdows
In this case six men stored their sperm prior to undergoing treatment for cancer in case they proved to be infertile after the treatment. However, the sperm was not properly stored and as a result was inadvertently destroyed. The men sued the NHS Trust where their sperm was stored, losing...