Issue 269 (04 August 2004)

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What they said about Francis Crick

02 August 2004 - by Juliet Tizzard

The recent death of Francis Crick, who, with James Watson, discovered the structure of DNA, has prompted a wave of adoring comment from obituary writers, news journalists and fellow scientists alike. And rightly so. As our news story on his death describes, Crick contributed not just to the discovery of...[Read More]

Cell therapy company goes into receivership

27 July 2004 - by BioNews

CellFactors plc, a small biotechnology company specialising in the development of human cell-based therapies, has gone into receivership. The announcement came after the company failed to raise the level of investment needed for pre-clinical development of its lead technology, a mixture of chemicals derived from human cells that promotes bone...[Read More]

Migrating stem cells may treat stroke victims

27 July 2004 - by BioNews

A team from Stanford University, US, has shown that fetal stem cells can migrate to the site of stroke damage and restore lost cells, indicating their potential as a treatment. The research, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, was carried out using human stem cells on rats...[Read More]

Japan allows creation of embryos for research

28 July 2004 - by BioNews

Japan's Council for Science and Technology Policy has approved a proposal made by a bioethics subcommittee earlier this month that will allow scientists to create human embryos for basic research purposes, including stem cell research. Embryos will now be able to be created either by the fertilisation of human eggs...[Read More]

Charlie Whitaker has stem cell transplant

28 July 2004 - by BioNews

Charlie Whitaker, the boy at the centre of one of the fiercest debates over so-called 'saviour siblings' has had a stem cell transplant and is 'on the road to recovery', say his parents. Jayson and Michelle Whitaker made the decision last December to go ahead with the treatment, made possible...[Read More]

More pressure on Bush's stem cell policy

28 July 2004 - by BioNews

Ron Reagan, the son of the late US president Ronald Reagan, has urged Democrat supporters to vote for candidates who would relax policy on human embryonic stem (ES) cell research. Speaking at the Democrat National Convention (DNC) on Tuesday, he told delegates that while he understood there were ethical and...[Read More]

Women see crimson and burgundy, men see red

29 July 2004 - by BioNews

Research carried out at Arizona State University reveals that the gene that allows people to see red has a surprising number of variations. As this gene is on the X chromosome, women have two copies whilst men have only one. The research team believes this may cause a difference between...[Read More]

Genetic link to lung cancer

30 July 2004 - by BioNews

Having a particular genetic marker increases the chance of developing lung cancer. This is the finding of a of $5.9 million project carried out by the Genetic Epidemiology of Lung Cancer Consortium, an interdisciplinary team made up of researchers from across the US. The results, to be published in the...[Read More]

Short-sighted parents have short-sighted children

30 July 2004 - by BioNews

Short-sightedness, or myopia as it is technically known, affects around a quarter of the UK population and its incidence is on the increase around the world. In Singapore the percentage of the population with myopia rose from 25 per cent to 80 per cent in the last 30 years, with...[Read More]

Francis Crick, a founding father of genetics, has died

30 July 2004 - by BioNews

He has been described as 'the Charles Darwin of the 20th century' by Professor Steve Jones of University College London and as 'the dominant hero of the heroic age of molecular biology' by Professor Richard Dawkins of Oxford University. He was a Nobel prize winner, a Fellow of the Royal...[Read More]