Issue 639 (09 January 2012)

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.

Visit the BioNews website at www.bionews.org.uk where you can subscribe for free to receive BioNews by email in one of three formats, plus view more news, comment, reviews and job advertisements and search the full archive.

Do we think it matters where our genes come from?

09 January 2012 - by Sandy Starr

The Progress Educational Trust's 2011 project Genes, Ancestry and Racial Identity: Does It Matter Where Your Genes Come From?, supported by the Wellcome Trust, sought to debate race and ancestry in the context of genetics and to explore the connection (or lack of connection) between genetics and the concept of 'race'...[Read More]

South Africa shows a way to ensure more predictability in surrogacy arrangements

09 January 2012 - by Annabel Christie

A new surrogacy law in South Africa suggests a way to improve those in the UK – by making surrogacy agreements enforceable. In the UK, commissioning parents can only find out after the child is born if they can become the legal parents...[Read More]

First chimeric monkeys born in US

09 January 2012 - by Suzanne Elvidge

Three chimeric rhesus monkeys born in the USA have been described as the world's first primate chimeras...[Read More]

Rise in 'selective reproduction' due to increase in IVF, experts say

09 January 2012 - by Victoria Kay

There has been a rise in the number of British women choosing to give birth to fewer children following multiple pregnancy, leading to renewed calls for restrictions on the number of embryos implanted during IVF....[Read More]

IVF 'twins' born five years apart

09 January 2012 - by Louisa Petchey

Five-year-old Reuben Blake has already started school, but his twin sister Floren, conceived during the same IVF treatment cycle, has only just been born...[Read More]

Personalised care one step closer as Mayo Clinic sequences patients' genomes

09 January 2012 - by Rachel Lyons

Personalised healthcare could be one step closer this year, as doctors from the prestigious US Mayo Clinic embark on a project to sequence the full genetic code of thousands of people...[Read More]

Mouse sperm grown in lab

09 January 2012 - by Sarah Guy

Researchers have successfully extracted germ cells - the cells that give rise to gametes - from the testes of mice, and used them to grow sperm in the lab...[Read More]

Disappointing results one year into diabetes stem cell trial

09 January 2012 - by Marianne Neary

Biotech company Osiris Therapeutics has this month released an optimistic update on its Phase II trial evaluating the use of adult stem cells for the treatment of type 1 diabetes, despite lacking positive results...[Read More]

Arrests in US after fake stem cell therapies sold to terminally ill

09 January 2012 - by Oliver Timmis

A professor of pathology and a midwife have been arrested in the US, charged with illegally supplying stem cells for unauthorised use. They are suspected of belonging to a team of at least four people who sold untested stem cell 'cures' to cancer patients and people with neurodegenerative diseases...[Read More]

Freezing embryos after IVF may result in 'healthier' babies

09 January 2012 - by Dr Rosie Morley

A new study has shown that babies born following IVF using frozen embryos may be born later and weigh more than babies born from fresh embryos....[Read More]

Lesbian woman in US who donated eggs to ex-partner granted parental rights over child

09 January 2012 - by Antony Blackburn-Starza

A Florida court has granted equal parental rights to two lesbian women who created a child using the eggs from one of the women, while the other carried the baby to term. It ruled that egg donors may acquire parental rights to children resulting from their gametes under the Florida and US Constitution....[Read More]

Book Review: Human Dignity in Bioethics and Law

09 January 2012 - by Rachel Lyons

I was slightly sceptical when I read the back cover description of Charles Foster's book, 'Human Dignity in Bioethics and Law'. It seemed to be promising so much, namely that Foster was set to challenge the very basis of my bioethical understanding by arguing an alternative to the four principles of Beauchamp and Childress. It was with trepidation that I opened the front cover....[Read More]