NHS Surrey is the latest Primary Care Trust to stop providing IVF for new patients. Facing a £125 million budget deficit this year, the trust has decided to suspend all new courses of the treatment, although women nearing 40 will be considered and ongoing treatments will be continued. Previously it funded up to two full cycles of IVF per couple, if the woman was aged between 23 and 39...
UK researchers have identified a type of genetic variation which allows bowel cancer patients to live on average three months longer than those without the variant....
Scientists have found a direct link between the 'fat mass and obesity associated' (Fto) gene and increased weight...
American researchers have successfully treated cystic fibrosis patients with a new drug targeting the cause of the disease. Patients carrying a common genetic mutation associated with cystic fibrosis were treated with the drug VX-770...
The proposed abolition of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) was discussed for a second time in the House of Lords on 9 November 2010. Several peers drew attention to the questionable benefits of dismantling the fertility regulator...
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), responsible for enforcing federal anti-discrimination laws in the US, has issued its 'final rule' guidelines clarifying how federal laws should operate to prevent job discrimination on the basis of genetic information....
A former patron of the Progress Educational Trust (PET), which publishes BioNews, has been appointed to the UK's House of Lords. Former Member of Parliament (MP) Dafydd Wigley campaigned for the first Human Fertilisation and Embryology (HFE) Act in 1990...
Researchers have identified 22 regions of the human genome responsible for controlling the rhythm of heartbeats, according to an international study published in Nature Genetics. The findings may help explain the development of those with irregular heartbeat and who may have an increased risk of heart problems....
Last Tuesday, the embattled head of the Canadian federal assisted human reproduction agency, Assisted Human Reproduction Canada, returned to defend herself before a Parliamentary committee. This Parliamentary grilling was different from the one Dr Elinor Wilson experienced in June...
Stay up-to-date on all the latest developments in the fields of human fertility and genomics. And be the first to hear about upcoming events and other announcements.
Comment
Don't let market forces govern human procreation
by Dr Juliet Guichon
Canada's National Post reported last month that two British Columbians who had hired a 'surrogate' mother, changed their minds and wanted the woman to abort (1). The fetus apparently had Down's syndrome. The pregnant woman resisted abortion but then acquiesced...
Private cord blood collection and cerebral palsy — is there a connection?
by Dr Karen Devine
In April 2008, a Los Angeles Times article posed the question: 'Can a child's umbilical cord blood be used to treat his own cerebral palsy?' (1) The article referred to the extraordinary improvement in health of a little boy in the US, Dallas Hextell, who has the motor neurone disease, cerebral palsy...