Father's age strongest predictor of genetic mutations
Children of older fathers inherit more genetic mutations than those of younger fathers, according to Icelandic scientists....
News
Stem cell therapy for autism gets clinical trial go-ahead
Stem cells harvested from patients' own umbilical cord blood are to be trialled in the US as treatment for children with autism...
Belfast fertility clinic to challenge watchdog's ruling
A Northern Irish fertility clinic has protested against a regulatory notice which could mean it may have to stop accepting new patients....
Life sentence: Palestinian prisoner has son from smuggled sperm
A Palestinian prisoner has reportedly fathered a son after his sperm was smuggled out of an Israeli prison where he was serving a life sentence....
Man-in-a-van DNA paternity testing service hits New York
A New York businessman is offering a mobile blood and tissue collection service for paternity testing....
'Super-fertility' to blame for some recurrent miscarriages, study suggests
Women who repeatedly reject pregnancies may be 'too good' at carrying, research indicates...
Genome researchers track and stop spread of killer bug
An outbreak of a drug-resistant bacterial bug, which killed six people and infected 11 more, was stopped partially thanks to genome sequencing, a paper in Science Translational Medicine reports...
Reviews
Book Review: Tissue Culture in Science and Society - The Public Life of a Biological Technique in Twentieth Century Britain
Duncan Wilson begins this book by expressing hope that highlighting the historical interactions between the scientific and social worlds of tissue culture will provide current debates with some much needed balance and perspective. In this, he succeeds admirably...
TV Review: What's My Body Worth?
In this documentary of extremes, freelance journalist and documentary producer Storm Theunissen finds out how cash-strapped Britons can make money using their bodies. On one side, you have Storm's outlandish plans to make money by selling urine and earwax for medical testing. On the other, there is an altogether more interesting and insightful look at egg donation in both the UK and USA....
Comment
Phenome-nal! Science PR goes for gold
by James Brooks
I'll brook no cynicism, the Olympics was a dazzling display of what makes Britain great. Which is to say: marketing, PR and weapons-grade hype...
Obituary: Professor Samuel Lee
Sammy Lee, visiting professor in the Research Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University College London (UCL), since 2010, and visiting professor in biomedical science at the ABC Medical School in São Paulo, Brazil, an expert on fertility and in vitro fertilisation, passed away suddenly on 21 July 2012...