Issue 399 (20 March 2007)

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Victoria to vote on therapeutic cloning

19 March 2007 - by Antony Blackburn-Starza

Victoria may become the first Australian state to allow scientists to conduct therapeutic cloning by cell nuclear transfer (CNR), after legislation legalising the research was proposed by Health Minister Bronwyn Pike to the state's Parliament last week. Although Australia's Federal Parliament passed Senator Kay Patterson's bill to...[Read More]

Children of long-lived parents have a lower risk of heart disease

19 March 2007 - by Dr Laura Bell

Recent research published in the Archives of Internal Medicine suggests that middle aged people who have parents of which at least one lives to be 85 or more, have a lower risk of heart disease. The research used data from the Framingham Heart Study (FHS), which...[Read More]

Ultrasound predicts IVF outcome

19 March 2007 - by Katy Sinclair

A Dutch study has shown that ultrasound can be used to predict whether IVF is likely to be successful for a woman, by counting the number of egg-producing follicles in her ovaries. Dr Janet Kwee, from Vrije University Medical Centre in Amsterdam, conducted the study that examined...[Read More]

Unfertilised mouse eggs used in successful nuclear transfer

19 March 2007 - by Heidi Nicholl

Scientists in Japan have succeeded in performing cell nuclear transfer on mouse eggs left unfertilised after IVF. Lead scientist on the study Teruhiko Wakayama said, 'Before our findings, it was believed that only fresh eggs could be used. But if incompetent eggs can be cloned, then scientists...[Read More]

Los Angeles Clinic launches fertility programme for gay men

19 March 2007 - by MacKenna Roberts

According to a Reuter's news report, a fertility clinic in Los Angeles, California, has announced that in response to overwhelming international demand, it will offer the first fertility programme especially designed to assist gay men to become parents. The Fertility Institutes already controversially offers gender selection, which...[Read More]