Issue 400 (26 March 2007)

Welcome to BioNews by email, the free weekly news digest of the top stories in assisted conception, genetics, embryo/stem cell research and related areas, published by the Progress Educational Trust. Sent to registered subscribers each week, BioNews by email is aimed at informing debate in these areas by providing balanced and timely summaries of the week's news and developments alongside comment, reviews and recommendations of selected topical conferences, events and more. It also contains job advertisements from the relevant sectors.

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BioNews celebrates its 400th issue and Progress Educational Trust is revived

26 March 2007 - by Professor Marcus Pembrey

This is the 400th BioNews, a milestone that might never have been reached. Last year Progress Educational Trust (PET) was derailed by the vagaries of small charity fund-raising, staff fell below the critical mass of four and on 22 January the trustees announced that PET's activities would cease. This came...[Read More]

NIH director supports expansion of federal ES cell research funding

26 March 2007 - by Antony Blackburn-Starza

The director of the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), Elias Zerhouni, has said that he supports the removal of the current restrictions on federal funding for human embryonic stem (ES) cell research imposed by President Bush in 2001. 'From my standpoint, it is clear today that...[Read More]

Body clock gene clue in bipolar disorder

26 March 2007 - by Dr Laura Bell

Recent research published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences shows that the disruption of a gene known to regulate the body clock and circadian rhythms in mice triggers behaviours similar to humans with bipolar disorder (previously called manic depression). Bipolar disorder is...[Read More]

New approaches to recruiting sperm and egg donors

26 March 2007 - by Katy Sinclair

An advertising campaign launched by the UK's National Gamete Donation Trust (NGDT) has attracted complaints from potential parents and campaigners, who have labelled it tacky. The NGDT created the 'Give A Toss' campaign in response to declining sperm donations. The NGDT needs 500 sperm donors annually in...[Read More]

IVF baby born after sperm mix-up leads to US lawsuit

26 March 2007 - by MacKenna Roberts

New York State Supreme Court Justice Sheila Abdus-Salaam has allowed Thomas and Nancy Andrews to pursue unspecified damages for parts of their claim that in 2004, the fertility clinic Medical Services for Reproductive Medicine negligently used an unknown donor's sperm to fertilise Mrs Andrews's eggs, denying Mr...[Read More]

Missing genes linked to autism

26 March 2007 - by Dr Jess Buxton

Many cases of autism could be linked to spontaneous genetic changes that result in large chunks of missing DNA, according to a new US study. The research, published early online in Science, shows that so-called 'copy number variants' could be an important factor in the appearance...[Read More]