Scientists at the Roslin Institute, home of Dolly the sheep, hope to use genetically altered cloned chickens in the production of new drugs. The planned project, a joint venture with US biotech firm Viragen, was unveiled at a press conference in Edinburgh last week. The announcement followed earlier media reports...
US company Celera Genomics is to publish its version of the entire human genetic code in Science early next year, after being granted special data access arrangements by the journal. The firm will not put all its raw data into the public database GenBank, as is normally required by journals...
Having sex at or around the time of IVF embryo implantation may increase the chances of pregnancy, according to new research carried out at Adelaide University. Dr Kelton Tremellen and his team studied over a thousand embryos transferred to women undergoing IVF in Spain and Australia. They found that the...
A second debate on the use of cloned early embryo cells for research into new disease treatments will take place on 15 December, the UK government announced last week. A cross-party group of anti-abortion MPs has objected to the timing of the debate - a Friday afternoon when many MPs are...
A team of Canadian researchers has bred genetically altered mice to have gut cells that produce insulin, the hormone that controls blood sugar levels. Their findings, published in Science, raise the possibility of a new gene therapy treatment for diabetes. The symptoms of diabetes are caused by faulty or absent...
Stay up-to-date on all the latest developments in the fields of human fertility and genomics. And be the first to hear about upcoming events and other announcements.
Comment
Hens and hype
by Dr Jess Buxton
Flocks of cloned hens, genetically altered to produce new anti-cancer proteins in their eggs, are about to provide a host of cheap new drug treatments. Sounds too good to be true? Well yes actually: 'Britney' the headline-grabbing GM-chicken was soon exposed as an invention of the Mail on Sunday newspaper...