The Cambridge-based biotech company Gemini Holdings has announced plans for a genetic database in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. The project, to be called Newfound Genetics, is a joint venture between Gemini and a consortium called Lineage Biomedical, set up by Newfoundland doctors. It hopes to recruit families...
US scientists have created the first mouse model of Down syndrome (DS), a condition that affects one in 700 human babies. People with DS have an extra copy of human chromosome 21, and the mice have three copies of the corresponding mouse chromosome regions. The researchers, speaking at the American...
At the top of the front page of this Sunday's Observer, a headline ran: 'Ethics fear over mass gene bank'. By reading the headline alone, it wasn't at all clear what the article was about - but it didn't sound good. Reading the front page article, however, and the rather better...
US President Bill Clinton has signed an executive order that bars federal agencies from using genetic information to discriminate against employees. He has also given his backing to pending senate bills that aim to prevent private sector employers and insurers from doing the same. Clinton said it was time to...
Some people may benefit more from fitness training than others because of their genetic make-up, according to a report published in Nature last week. The gene involved, which comes in two versions (long and short), makes an enzyme known as ACE (angiotensin-converting enzyme). The researchers studied a group of 58...
deCODE genetics, the controversial Icelandic genetics research firm headed by Kari Stefansson, is to be floated on the stock market. It is likely to become one of the largest biotech firms in Europe. 'deCODE is going to go like a bomb. It would not surprise me to see its value...
Legislation to tighten up the regulation of federally funded human gene therapy trials was introduced into the US house of representatives last week. The move follows concerns that deaths and serious deterioration of patients involved in gene therapy experiments are not being reported adequately. Researchers are supposed to report any...
Government, scientists and industrialists are discussing the creation of a national genetic database for the UK. Enthusiasm for the project is mounting following the recommendations made by a panel set up by the Medical Research Council and the Wellcome Trust. The database, called the UK Population and Biomedical collection, would...
The Genetics and Insurance Committee (GAIC) has issued a public consultation on the criteria it will use to evaluate the use of specific genetic tests for insurance purposes, announced the Department of Health last week. The committee has developed an application form for use by the insurance industry, which requires...
News this week from the US that failed gene therapy trials are not being reported as required, has prompted concerns about the regulatory structures surrounding gene therapy. Reporters at the Washington Post came across reports of hundreds of failed gene therapy experiments which had not previously been sent to the...
Subscribe for free to what PET does best – informing you of the latest in fertility, genomics and embryo research.
