US families affected by Canavan disease, a severe genetic condition, are suing the institute that identified the gene involved, reports last week's Science. The Miami Children's Hospital (MCH) obtained a patent on the gene in 1997, and began licensing a genetic test for the illness the following year. But the...
The UK biotech firm ReNeuron, which wants to develop stem cell treatments for stroke, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease, has raised £19 million investment for its research. Chief executive Martin Edwards said: 'Market conditions have not been easy but what made a difference was that many fund managers had not heard...
The Royal Society has published an update on embryo stem cell research and therapeutic cloning - the use of cloned early embryo cells for research into new therapies for illnesses such as Parkinson's disease. It presented its findings to MPs last week, at a meeting held jointly with the Medical Research...
A group of Dutch scientists has identified a hormone that delays the early stages of egg development in mouse ovaries, reports last week's New Scientist. The researchers, based at Erasmus University in Rotterdam, say that the hormone - called anti-Mullerian hormone (AMH) - could eventually be used to delay the menopause and...
Nearly all men in Europe and the Middle East share just ten common male ancestors, according to a new genetic study published in last week's Science. The team also found that 80 per cent of European men are descendants of just two Stone Age 'hunter-gatherer' lineages, which originated 20,000-40,000...
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Gene patenting in the news
by Juliet Tizzard
This week's BioNews reports on a landmark legal dispute over a gene patent between scientists and a group of families affected by Canavan disease. The case, in which the families are suing the Miami Children's Hospital for patenting a genetic test for Canavan disease, is the first of its kind...