The UK parliament's House of Lords was today due to vote on the proposed amendment to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology (HFE) Act of 1990. Passed by the House of Commons on 19 December, the new regulations would permit scientists to carry out research on early embryo stem cells (cells...
The British Heart Foundation (BHF) is launching a new study to try and identify genes involved in familial heart disease. Researchers at Leeds and Leicester University hope to recruit 2000 families in which at least two siblings have been affected by early coronary heart disease. They will then analyse DNA...
The future of research on embryo stem cells in the US looks uncertain, following the recent election of President George W Bush. Last year, the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) drafted new guidelines that would permit government-funded researchers to work on embryo stem cells. But, reports last week's New...
The head of the Centres for Assisted Reproduction at the Park Hospital in Nottingham has accused the UK's Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) of excessive caution, over its likely refusal to grant him a license to carry out trials of a new embryo screening technique. Dr Simon Fishel told...
The USA's Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has proposed new regulations for gene therapy researchers, aimed at addressing public concern over the safety of patient trials. Sparked by the outrage that followed the death of teenager Jesse Gelsinger during a gene therapy trial in 1999, the new rules say that...
UK firm Huntingdon Life Sciences was saved from bankruptcy last week, after US investors stepped in with a rescue package for the beleaguered animal research company. Following a year of campaigning by animal rights protestors, HLS was on the brink of closure after the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) withdrew...
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Comment
No time to delay stem cell research
by Juliet Tizzard
As I write this commentary, the House of Lords is about to vote on the future of embryo stem cell research and therapeutic cloning. But, as you will read in this week's BioNews, the issue is being complicated by parliamentary shenanigans. The cross bench Lord and anti-abortion campaigner, David Alton...