Genetics gets to root of redhead skin cancer risk
The genetic mutation responsible for red hair leaves DNA in skin cells more prone to sun damage and cancer, scientists report...
News
Tomorrow never knows: dentist hopes to clone John Lennon from rotten tooth
Canadian dentist Michael Zuk, who spent almost £20,000 on one of John Lennon's rotten molars at an auction in 2011, now plans to sequence Lennon's DNA in the hope of cloning him....
Ageing process determined by mum's DNA
Genetic mutations passed on from mothers may speed up the ageing process and shorten life expectancy, according to a study on mice...
Israel: lesbian couple refused surrogacy procedure
A court in Israel has rejected a lesbian couple's request to undergo a surrogacy procedure in the country....
Image by Peter Artymiuk via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts the shadow of a DNA double helix, on a background that shows the fluorescent banding of the output from a DNA sequencing machine.
American health insurer will only pay for BRCA test after genetic counselling
For the first time, a major health insurance company in the USA will require its customers to receive genetic counselling before it will pay for certain genetic tests...
Gene therapy repairs heart attack damage
Researchers have concocted a 'gene cocktail' that may help to turn scar tissue into functioning cardiac cells after a heart attack...
Reviews
TV Review: Dara O'Briain's Science Club - Adventures in Time
Dara O'Briain's Science Club explores time from many different angles, looking at diverse areas from aerodynamic engineering to tissue engineering...
Radio Review: Inside the Ethics Committee - Genetic Testing in Children
In this episode of Radio 4's Inside the Ethics Committee, we hear about Rachel's strong desire for her children to be tested for an inherited disease, Li-Fraumeni syndrome...
Comment
The 'Brilliant Beginnings' of surrogacy reform in the UK
by Natalie Gamble and 1 others
The landscape for opportunities to bring up a family through surrogacy and egg donation in the UK has changed - though not as fast as it has internationally. We live in a globalised world in which commercial surrogacy is a reality...