UK clinic to screen for Alzheimer’s
A couple who fear that they will pass on a gene for early-onset Alzheimer's disease have been given permission to screen their embryos to keep...
Enthusiasm for hybrid embryos spreads
Hybrid embryos are clearly the Next Big Thing in stem cell research. Hard on the heels of a decision by the UK's fertility authority to...
Sex-change operations leave patients satisfied
Despite significant complication rates, most sex-change surgery patients in Britain assert that they are happy with the outcome. According to a survey of 220 men...
Death in gene therapy trial raises questions
The mysterious death of an Illinois woman in a gene therapy clinical trial has raised questions about informed consent and the future of novel therapies...
AUSTRALIAN APPOINTED HEAD OF CALIFORNIA STEM CELL INSTITUTE
One of Australia's best-known scientists has been appointed head of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine. Alan Trounson, 61, has been brought in to manage...
LESBIAN PAIR SUES OVER ONE IVF CHILD TOO MANY
Now for another quirky moment in the world of artificial reproductive technology, this time from Australia's capital, Canberra. A lesbian couple has launched a wrongful...
HIPPOCRATIC OATH FOR SCIENTISTS PROPOSED
The British government's chief scientific adviser has launched a code of ethics for scientists. Professor Sir David King said that the new code will help...
IVF ON THE CHEAP — IF YOU GIVE YOUR EGGS FOR CLONING
Britain's Medical Research Council has agreed to fund half of women's IVF bills, provided that they donate half of their eggs for cloning research. This...
VATICAN SUPPORTS FOOD AND WATER
FOR UNCONSCIOUS PATIENTS
It is wrong to stop administering food and water to patients in a vegetative state, even if they never regain consciousness, says the Vatican. A...
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT BACKS HALT TO APE EXPERIMENTS
A large majority of members of the European Parliament have called for an end to experimentation on great apes. Their resolution is not legally binding,...
DOUBTS ON CYBRIDS SURFACE
Now that hybrid embryos have effectively been legalised in the UK, doubts about whether they are possible have surfaced in the media. The UK's fertility...
AGGRESSIVE PITCH FOR ORGAN DONATION GIVES SHIVERS IN US
A growing shortage of organs for transplant in the United States has prompted allegations that attempts to get organs from dying patients are too aggressive....