The planned merger between pharmaceutical giants SmithKline Beecham and Glaxo Wellcome took another step forward last week, after SmithKline agreed to sell the rights to three of its drugs. The US federal trade commission had expressed concerns that unless the products were dropped, the merged groups would dominate the market...
A team of researchers at the University of Tennessee in the US has announced the birth of the world's first cloned Jersey calf, the third cow to be cloned using adult cow cells. Millie (short for Millennium), cloned using cells from her prize-winning mother, was born on August 23. The...
Two new studies, published in the journal Human Reproduction, have raised concerns over the welfare of children conceived through donor insemination (DI) who are not told of their biological origins. A team of researchers at Surrey University in the UK found that individuals who were not told about their DI...
Researchers at Tufts University, Boston, have used gene therapy to treat patients with serious heart conditions. The trial involved 13 people affected by continuous, severe chest pains, caused by 'dead' areas of heart muscle. The scientists used gene injections to successfully restore blood flow to the affected muscle in nine...
A survey of 32 UK doctors and scientists by the Independent newspaper has revealed that some believe human reproductive cloning would be attempted within 20 years, if technical and safety issues could be overcome. But less than a quarter felt that cloning a human could be justified on medical grounds...
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Secrets and lies in sperm donation
by Juliet Tizzard
For those of us struggling to improve the public appreciation of science, the increased coverage of science and medicine in the British media over the past few years is a welcome development. But sometimes, one seemingly innocent mistake can undo all the good work! One such occasion was this week...