Foetal stem cells persist in mothers
Cells from babies live on in their mothers for her lifetime and could even prolong it, US researchers at Tufts-New England Medical Center have found....
Singapore row over research ethics
Singapore's dreams of becoming a world-class research hub for biotechnology are being tarnished by a dispute over the sacking of a UK scientist who used...
Italy’s new IVF law attacked after tragic case
Italians are debating their strict new IVF law after it had unforeseen consequences for a 26-year-old Sicilian woman. Pregnant with triplets after an IVF procedure,...
Facts with few readers — or readers with few facts?
An exchange in the letters column of the leading journal Nature raises interesting points about whether scientists should worry about the message or the facts...
IN BRIEF: Australian infertility ~ underage girls and IVF ~ sperm donors
Skyrocketing rates of obesity and diabetes in Australia may leave many women unable to conceive a child, say doctors. "I believe that within 10 years,...
Drug giant accused of improper marketing to doctors
One of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies is being investigated by federal prosecutors in Boston for paying doctors large sums to prescribe its drugs. According...
Stem cell research compared to Nazi death camps
A prominent Federal MP has compared some medical research in Australian universities with that done in Nazi death camps. Addressing a Right to Life conference...
Peter Singer: latest sighting
The controversial utilitarian philosopher Peter Singer has given more ammunition to his critics by firmly endorsing infanticide in a UK newspaper. In an interview with...
Survey claims that euthanasia is common in NZ
Many general practitioners are killing or hastening the deaths of their patients, according to an anonymous survey in the New Zealand Medical Journal. Thirty-nine of...
UK doctors want to screen embryos for breast and bowel cancer
UK scientists are soon to apply for a licence to screen IVF embryos for breast and bowel cancer genes so that parents will not place...
“The Plastinator” gets under people’s skin
A Los Angeles museum is displaying the controversial "Body Worlds" exhibition of Dr Gunther von Hagens. More than 200 human specimens, about 25 of them...
After six years, IVF blunder still smoulders
A white woman who unwittingly became a surrogate mother for a black couple has settled for an undisclosed amount with a New York IVF clinic....