France to renew stem cell regulation
France's parliament is to debate on whether current bioethics laws prohibiting research on human embryos should be eased....
News
Genetic link to sleepwalking: A dream or reality?
A new study has demonstrated a genetic link to sleepwalking, a condition that affects up to ten percent of children and 1 in 50 adults....
Prostate cancer genetic test could prevent surgery, say researchers
A genetic screening test could help doctors to identify men with the most aggressive types of prostate cancer, UK scientists believe. The test could save men with milder forms of the disease from unnecessary surgery and its potentially serious side effects...
Fertility treatment success linked to weight and race, study claims
New research suggests that women from ethnic minority backgrounds may have lower success rates with fertility treatment....
Miserable? It's in your genes, study claims
US researchers have found a correlation between levels of the brain chemical neuropeptide Y (NPY) and an individual's emotional wellbeing. Mutations in the NPY gene, leading to decreased levels of the molecule, correlated with a decreased ability to deal with stressful situations and an increased susceptibility to depression....
'Octomum' doctor could still be struck off
'Octomum' fertility doctor, Dr Michael Kamrava, could still be struck off despite a judge's recommendation to the contrary, according to a decision made by the Medical Board of California, the state's medical licensing body....
Prostate cancer genome sequenced
US researchers have sequenced the genomes of several prostate tumours providing new information that may help doctors to identify aggressive forms of the cancer and prioritise treatment...
University of California opens new stem cell centre
The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), has opened a stem cell research facility paid for by private and state money approved by Californian voters. As no federal funds were used, researchers can avoid federal funding policy restrictions on human embryonic stem cell (hESC) research....
'Health bodies shouldn't cut IVF funding', says public health minister
Public health minister Anne Milton has said NHS Primary Care Trusts should follow existing guidelines and offer three cycles of IVF to eligible couples....
Reviews
Image by Bill Sanderson via the Wellcome Collection, © Wellcome Trust Ltd 1990. Depicts Laocoön and his family (from Greek and Roman mythology) entwined in coils of DNA.
Event Review: Unnatural - The Heretical Idea of Making People
The creation of human life through artificial means is often portrayed as an inherently dangerous and unnatural process, where the product of any such attempt is assumed to be somehow inferior and lacking in humanity. This is a recurrent idea that looms over contemporary debate surrounding many scientific advances and technologies in biology, from reproductive cloning to embryonic stem cell (ESC) research, IVF and human genetics....
Comment
Surrogacy, parenthood and disputes: are there any lessons to be learned?
by Natalie Gamble and 1 others
Surrogacy has been around for many years and disputes rarely arise. There have only been a handful of published cases in the English courts where a surrogacy arrangement has gone wrong. However, the recently published case of TT (a Minor) (1) received national press and radio coverage, focusing on Mr Justice Baker's warning about the inherent risks of surrogacy, awarding care of the baby to the surrogate mother and yet again putting surrogacy in the media spotlight...