A group of US researchers has achieved surprise success in a gene therapy trial for haemophilia, an inherited blood-clotting disorder. Scientists based at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston and the University of North Carolina originally designed the trial to test the safety of their approach, but four out...
A team of US researchers has found that naturally-occurring cannabis-like chemicals may control both sperm motility and their ability to fertilise an egg. The scientists, based at the University at Buffalo, State University of New York, say their study raises the possibility that heavy use of marijuana could interfere with...
More than 50,000 babies have been born following IVF treatment in the UK, according to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA)'s annual report. There has been a steady rise in patients, treatments and success rates since the birth of Louise Brown in 1978, with over half of all...
A group of UK researchers has managed to grow lung cells in the laboratory using mouse embryo stem cells - cells that can potentially develop into a wide range of different tissues. Team leader Anne Bishop, of the Imperial College Centre for Tissue Engineering, presented the findings at a recent stem...
PPL Therapeutics, the UK firm that has exclusive rights to the 'cloning' technique used to create Dolly the sheep, is to use the cell nuclear transfer technology to produce genetically modified cattle. In a joint venture with New Zealand company Celentis, PPL hope to breed cows to produce a human...
Another debate on the use of early embryo cells for research into new disease treatments took place in the House of Commons last Friday. Health Minister Yvette Cooper said allowing such research on embryos up to 14 days old could prove to be the Holy Grail in finding a cure...
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Comment
Parliament and the future of embryo research
by Juliet Tizzard
I write this commentary on the eve of an important vote in the British Parliament. Tomorrow, members of the House of Commons will decide upon the future of embryo stem cell research. We don't know what the outcome of tomorrow's vote will be. But if the regulations fail, it will...