Stem cells have been successfully extracted from veins left over from heart bypass surgery. Scientists hope that such cells could be used in the treatment of future heart conditions by stimulating the growth of new arteries...
US-based scientists working on embryonic stem cell (ES cell) research are relieved that the most important cell lines in their field have been approved for research by new government guidelines. During the Bush administration, US government funding for research involving ES cells was restricted to just 20 cell lines, all of which were in existence before 9 August 2001...
Scientists have identified a number of genetic mutations that appear to be associated with the number of cigarettes people smoke a day, the chance of taking up smoking, and the ability of being able to quit smoking...
Environmental factors, rather than genetics, may play a key role in multiple sclerosis (MS), according to new research published in Nature...
A Connecticut woman who had a voluntary double mastectomy after genetic testing is alleging her employer wrongfully terminated her job after learning she carried a gene implicated in breast cancer...
The number of reported mistakes at IVF centres in England and Wales has doubled over one year, rising from 182 in 2007/08 to 334 in 2008/09. Incidents range from technical failures to serious mix-ups. Cases where embryos have been lost, implanted into the wrong patient, or fertilised with the wrong sperm have all been reported....
Whole genome analysis has been used for the first time to gather clinically-useful information about the risk of developing diseases later in life. Stephen Quake, an apparently healthy, middle-aged professor of bioengineering at Stanford University in California, volunteered to have his entire genetic code screened. He was found to be at increased risk of developing diabetes, some cancers and of having a heart attack...
The Michigan State Senate (US) has passed legislation which would lead to tight monitoring and regulation of research using stem cells derived from human embryos. The legislation prohibits the sale or purchase of human eggs and would also require research facilities, including universities, to file annual reports listing how many human embryos they have stored and other data...
Huntington's Disease affects families as much as individuals; affected parents have a 50 per chance of passing it to their children. This fact makes this book describing the effects of Huntington's on an entire family such a thought-provoking read. And it's funny, chatty and uplifting too...
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Comment
England’s libel laws are unjust, against the public interest and internationally criticised - there is an urgent need for reform
by Sile Lane
On 15 April the British Chiropractic Association (BCA) dropped its libel action against the science writer Simon Singh, bringing to an end a case that had cost 200,000 and taken two years of Simon's life. The BCA had sued Simon following an article he wrote in the Guardian newspaper criticising chiropracty for children...
Birth certificates: a new era?
by Louisa Ghevaert
Birth certificates have been a hot topic in the UK in recent weeks. There has been much controversy, confusion and misunderstanding, aptly shown by Caroline Gammell's article in The Daily Telegraph newspaper and Colin Fernandez's article in the Daily Mail on 19 April incorrectly hailing the advent of the first lesbian couple to both be named as parents on their baby daughter's birth certificate, born 31 March this year. Lesbian couples have not in fact had to wait until the beginning of April...