A donated human egg will be raffled on Wednesday to mark the launch of a new IVF service which helps UK women to access egg donation services in America. The new service, offered by the Bridge Centre in London, will allow patients to select egg donors on the basis of characteristics such as racial background, health, education and appearance....
The Australian federal five-year moratorium on the use of gender selection technology in IVF (in vitro fertilisation) treatment for so-called 'social' reasons ends this year, reopening this controversial debate. The Australian health watchdog, the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), confirmed that that it will be conducting a review of this issue, beginning within the next few months, after the completion of its ongoing review of the Research Involving Human E...
A couple in the US has taken a novel approach to meeting the cost of in vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment. Rather than approaching the bank or re-mortgaging the family home, as some couples are reported to have done, Brandi and Shelton Koskie decided to try to raise the money required - estimated to be around $12,000 - through private fundraising....
Sequencing a patient's genome to find the genetic cause of their inherited disease has finally been proven to be a viable clinical approach in two recent independent studies. For some time gene sequencing has been heralded as ushering in a new era of medicine. However, until now, only around 10 people in the world had had their personal genomes sequenced in full, and all of these were healthy people. Now, in the ten years since the first full genome was sequenced (at a cost of ...
A common gene variant has been linked to differences in pain sensitivity, according to a new study by scientists based at Cambridge University. The finding could help to explain why people have different pain thresholds and might help in the search for effective pain killers with tolerable side effects....
Acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine do not provide any benefit to women trying to become pregnant, the British Fertility Society (BFS) has found after reviewing the available evidence. The new guidelines, published in the journal Human Fertility, state that there is 'currently no evidence' that these methods increase the success rate of assisted conception, when used in conjunction with IVF (in vitro fertilisation)....
The UK's fertility industry regulator, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), has published new data on the success rates of fertility clinics across the country, enabling patients to find out the likely result of their treatment....
Yves Bolduc, the Minister for Health in Quebec, Canada, has announced plans to introduce free fertility treatment through the extension of Medicare coverage. This move will fulfil Premier Jean Charest's 2008 campaign promise...
The UK's Human Tissue Authority (HTA) issued a press release this week warning of the dangers of collecting umbilical cord blood stem cells by those who are unqualified to do so. Cord blood is rich in stem cells that contain potentially powerful biological properties, which could be useful in the treatment of certain blood disorders and cancers, and may in the long term be used in regenerative medicine....
Extraordinary Measures is the story of the desperation of a father to find a drug to prolong the lives of his sick children, Megan and Patrick, who both have an incurable genetic condition with a life expectancy of nine years of age....
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Comment
UK's HTA voices concerns about unlawful cord blood collection
by Shaun Griffin
On Tuesday (9 March) the UK's Human Tissue Authority (HTA) took the unprecedented step of writing to more than 150 organisations to express our concerns that umbilical cord blood is being collected unlawfully, and that this activity may compromise safety and quality standards. Our letters were targeted at those we regulate, maternity units, professional bodies and others...
Epigenetics in psychiatric disorders: A guide for beginners
by Sally Marlow
Mental health is a huge global concern, with one in four people experiencing some form of mental health problem at some point in their lives. Psychiatric disorders are sometimes difficult to study, as they are diagnosed on the basis of observed behaviours...