Paris conference investigates CRISPR potential
All the highlights CRISPR and other gene-editing technologies hold great promise for treating disease. However, they also provoke significant ethical concerns, especially about germline modification...
‘Genetic sexual attraction’ could become issue for kids of sperm donors
The British press is a fathomless mine of lurid but thought-provoking, strange-but-true explorations of the dark side of the human condition. Last week's revelation was published in...
Three parent babies – but only males
The US National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine has recommended that US government allow mitochondrial DNA transfer in male embryos. The US National Academies...
Debating the word “naturalness”
I’m not surprised that a new report from the Nuffield Council on Bioethics, an influential independent British bioethics think tank, has received no publicity. “Ideas...
Doin’ what comes natur’lly
Nuffield Council on Bioethics releases report on "naturalness" A new medical technology encounters the most resistance when Joe Bloggs thinks it is “unnatural”. If you...
3-parent IVF approved by British Parliament
Bill passes by a vote of 382 to 128. How did scientists win the PR battle? After years of debate, the British House of Commons...
US stem cell expert questions UK plans for 3-parent embryos
A noble goal, but there are too many unanswered questions. The British Parliament will begin debating whether to legalise a controversial technique known to opponents...
Ground shifts in UK debate over “three-parent embryos”
New Scientist magazine does an ethical back flip. Is UK’s battle over “three-parent embryos”, as it is called in the media, or mitochondrial transfer, as...
At long last, a follow-up study of “cytoplasmic transfer”
About 30 children conceived from this technique have been born, 17 of them from an American IVF clinic between 1996 and 2002. The United Kingdom...
British MP blasts “three-parent embryos”
In a terse summary of objections to the practice of mitochondrial transfer to prevent serious diseases Sir Edward Leigh, a Conservative MP, told the House...
Lord Winston warns of unregulated IVF ‘jungle’
In a recent interview with the Independent Robert Winston warned of deception in the IVF market. Fertility companies, he believes, are exaggerating the effectiveness and...
HFEA finds mitochondrial transfer ‘not unsafe’
The peak UK IVF regulatory body has published its findings on the controversial new procedure known as mitochondrial replacement therapy. The peak UK IVF regulatory...