Sperm mix-up case dismissed
A woman who sued a US sperm bank after she gave birth to a mixed-race child has had her claim rejected by an Illinois court, reports the Chicago Tribune...
News
Human rights court upholds Italy's prohibition on donating embryos to science
The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that Italy's prohibition on donating IVF embryos for research is not contrary to a right to private and family life....
Breakthrough in rare disease that causes growth of second skeleton
Scientists have developed a potential antibody treatment for the rare genetic disease fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP), in which muscle and soft tissue gradually turn to bone...
Woman with MS gives birth to granddaughter
A woman in the USA who acted as a surrogate for her daughter has given birth to her biological granddaughter...
Postmortem findings hint at Alzheimer's gene therapy effect
An experimental gene therapy used in patients with Alzheimer's disease appears to slow down neural degeneration....
UK science bodies call for gene-editing debate
A consortium of medical research funders and learned societies has called for further research into the genetic modification of human cells, as well as a national debate into the ethics of such techniques...
Combined genetic tests could aid autism diagnosis
Scientists have found that two genetic analysis techniques can increase the number of causative mutations found in children with autism spectrum disorder...
UK national sperm bank has only nine donors
A year after it opened, the UK's national sperm bank has only nine registered donors, says its chief executive Laura Witjens, who is planning a major new recruitment drive at the end of this month...
Sperm cells attach to eggs with tiny 'harpoons'
Scientists have discovered that a protein in the head of sperm cells forms spiky filaments, which could act as tiny 'harpoons' that anchor the sperm to an egg...
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.
Book Review: Biotechnology/Cloning and Stem Cells
'What is Ethics?' A seemingly innocent question asked by a 14-year-old student in my first year as a teacher. I struggled for a reply. Since then, I have been on the lookout for any resource that clarifies this question...
Comment
Baby steps forward, baby steps back: towards a more liberal Swiss regulation of reproduction
by Melanie Levy and 1 others
Switzerland upholds stricter legislation on assisted reproduction and prenatal genetic testing than most European countries. However, recent regulatory changes demonstrate a possible shift towards a more liberal approach....
Obesity findings set precedent for GWAS research
by Dr Jamie Heather
Recent findings linking the FTO gene to adipose cell energy use not only revealed a molecular mechanism that contributes to obesity, but they are also an exemplar of how genome-wide association study findings can make the journey to clinical relevance...