India moves to curb commercial surrogacy
India looks poised to introduce surrogacy legislation following several developments that could lead to a blanket ban on commercial surrogacy...
News
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.
Genome analysis shows Ebola can be sexually transmitted
Traces of Ebola virus RNA have been found in the semen of survivors up to nine months after infection, genome analysis has revealed...
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.
Trial of stem-cell therapy in the womb to begin
Researchers have announced the first clinical trial of stem-cell therapy for fetuses still in the womb, as a treatment for brittle bone disease...
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.
Court orders contact between girls and sperm donor
A UK High Court judge has ordered that the biological father of a teenage girl can maintain indirect contact with her, despite her opposition...
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.
Planned Parenthood to stop accepting compensation for fetal tissue
The US reproductive healthcare provider Planned Parenthood has announced it will no longer accept payments for the fetal tissue it makes available for research...
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.
CRISPR could make animal-to-human organ transplant safer
Researchers say that the gene-editing technique CRISPR/Cas9 could be used to increase the safety of organ transplantation from pig to human...
Image by Alan Handyside via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a human egg soon after fertilisation, with the two parental pronuclei clearly visible.
Fracking chemicals linked to reduced sperm count
Prenatal exposure to chemicals used in fracking for oil or natural-gas operations may affect sperm count later in life, a new study performed on mice suggests...
Reviews
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.
Theatre Review: Photograph 51
Making her triumphant return to the London stage after 17 years, Nicole Kidman stars as Rosalind Franklin, the scientist whose pioneering work led to the discovery of the double-helix structure of DNA...
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.
Book Review: The Genealogy of a Gene - Patents, HIV/AIDS and Race
This book is an impressive examination of the CCR5 gene, which provides a carefully detailed interdisciplinary understanding involving biochemistry, genetics and biotechnology, as well as the historical and contemporary aspects of patenting and intellectual property laws...
Comment
10 years since the end of donor anonymity — have we got it right?
by Sarah Norcross
The Progress Educational Trust and the National Gamete Donation Trust are organising a joint event to mark 10 years since the end of donor anonymity in the UK...