Issue 417 (23 July 2007)

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From consensus to plurality: the negotiated compromise and public consultations

23 July 2007 - by Antony Blackburn-Starza

The University College London's Law and Bioethics colloquium, which took place in London at the beginning of July, gave me the impression that a silent revolution is taking place in bioethical discourse (1). The goalposts in bioethics may be shifting from an emphasis on trying to build a moral consensus...[Read More]

Gene clues to heart attack risk

23 July 2007 - by Ailsa Stevens

A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine last week reported the discovery of six single letter gene changes - so-called genetic variants - linked to significantly increased risk of heart disease: the UK's biggest killer. The study - part of the multimillion pound Welcome Trust Case Control...[Read More]

Sperm injection technique may be overused

23 July 2007 - by Dr Jess Buxton

An assisted reproduction technique used to overcome male infertility is increasingly being used to treat couples who may not need it, say US researchers. Dr Tarun Jain and his colleagues, based at the University of Illinois at Chicago, say that the use of intracytoplasmic sperm injection...[Read More]

Sperm donor seeks custody of his biological son

23 July 2007 - by Danielle Hamm

A sperm donor from the Republic of Ireland is fighting for joint custody of his biological son, following the break-down of his relationship with the lesbian couple he donated his sperm to. On 19 July he won a Supreme Court battle, preventing the couple from taking the...[Read More]

Gene hope for Type 1 diabetes prevention

23 July 2007 - by Ailsa Stevens

A study published this month in the journal Nature announced the discovery of a genetic variation that raises the likelihood of a child developing type-1 diabetes. The researchers, based at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and McGill University in Montreal, say that the finding could provide...[Read More]

German bioethicists support relaxation of stem cell laws

23 July 2007 - by MacKenna Roberts

Last week, the German National Ethics Council - a medical ethics policy group that advises the German government - voted in favour of relaxing strict legal prohibitions on human embryonic stem (ES) cell research, providing hope to frustrated scientists that legislative change may be on its way. Horst Dreier...[Read More]

Scottish Catholics say keep 'the need for a father' in UK fertility laws

23 July 2007 - by Antony Blackburn-Starza

Scottish Catholic, Cardinal Keith O'Brian, has called on the UK Prime Minister to reconsider proposals to remove the current reference to 'the need for a father' contained in legislation governing IVF. Section 13 (5) of the 1990 Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act stipulates that in offering IVF...[Read More]