£5.8m boost for mitochondrial disease research

An experimental genetic technique to prevent serious diseases from passing between mother and child is to receive £5.8 million funding. The Wellcome Trust is contributing £4.4 million to the new Centre for Mitochondrial Research at Newcastle University...[Read More]

Gene knock-out creates diabetes-free, mighty mice

Mice that don't produce a certain protein in their fat cells do not develop type 2 diabetes despite an increase in weight, scientists report. In a separate study, the same research group also managed to double the physical performance of mice by removing the same protein from their muscle cells...[Read More]

New embryo test to improve IVF success rate

Researchers at Oxford University have developed a test that may help to improve IVF success rates by checking the health of embryos. The team, led by Dr Dagan Wells, has apparently developed a test which checks embryos during IVF for abnormal numbers of chromosomes...[Read More]

Gene for a 'heavy heart' found in rodents

A new gene has been associated with thickening of the heart which increases chances of heart failure. Researchers at Imperial College London found that faults in the gene called endocuclease G or 'Endog' influences the thickness of the muscular heart wall, how effectively the heart pumps blood and how much fat accumulates in the heart....[Read More]

PGD could offer new hope for mitochondrial disease parents

Women at risk of passing on mitochondrial disease to their children could use PGD to give birth to an unaffected child. The scientists at Maastricht University Medical Centre in the Netherlands claim their work has the potential to prevent the transmission of mitochondrial diseases...[Read More]

TV Review: The Gene Code - The Book of Life/Unlocking the Code

Nearly twenty years ago, a medical school I know well was deciding whether to incorporate the university genetics department. One senior medical professor cautioned that science-focused geneticists would be well advised to stop studying fruit flies, snails and other animal species in favour of 'real genetic research' into human genetics....[Read More]

HFEA asks scientists for advice on mitochondrial disease treatment

Health Secretary, Andrew Lansley has asked the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) to convene an expert group 'to assess the effectiveness and safety' of a fertility treatment that would enable children to be born without potentially devastating, incurable mitochondrial diseases.

Cell's 'power cells' protect against stroke

Certain variations of mitochondrial DNA are protective against strokes, according to a recent study in The Lancet Neurology....[Read More]

Who are the real creators of a living being?

The announcement that scientists at the University of Newcastle have developed a new procedure that could eventually help women with dysfunctional mitochondria (the energy source of the cell), made headline news across the world...[Read More]

New IVF technique could prevent transmission of mitochondrial disorders

A team of researchers at Newcastle University in the UK has been successful in attempts to transfer genetic material from one newly fertilised human egg to another without carrying over the egg's mitochondria (the energy-producing structures of a cell)...[Read More]

Controversial egg modification technique could increase IVF success in older women

A controversial new technique to improve the quality of eggs from older women undergoing IVF is being developed by Japanese scientists. Because the procedure involves using eggs from two women to create a single viable egg for fertilisation, it has sparked a media furore over the potential creation of what have been inaccurately dubbed 'three-parent embryos'....[Read More]

Reflecting on the role of PET and BioNews

We publish BioNews issue 450 as the new UK Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill heads from the Lords to the House of Commons. A lot has happened in the fields of human genetics, assisted reproduction and embryo research since BioNews 400, including the rejuvenation of PET! A year on, we...[Read More]

Clarification: Hope for parents with mitochondrial diseases

In last week's BioNews we published an article about research into possible new treatments for mitochondrial disorders, in which we stated that: 'Sperm do not contribute any mitochondria to the embryo (as they are all present within the tail, which falls off after fertilisation) and, consequently, children inherit all their...[Read More]

Hope for parents with mitochondrial diseases

Scientists at the University of Newcastle are developing a technique that they hope will enable women with a group of devastating hereditary illnesses - known as mitochondrial diseases - to have children without passing on their genetic disorders. Because the method involves sperm from one man and two eggs...[Read More]

Legislation, Deafness and Reproductive Rights: Comments on Clause 14 of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill

A new Bill to replace the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 is passing through the UK Houses of Parliament at the moment. One particular clause raises a controversial issue regarding preferences of certain kinds of persons or potential persons. Clause 14, section 4, number 9 (Lines 23-30, Page...[Read More]

A New Year, new fertility and embryology laws - and a new director for PET

Happy New Year. I would like to introduce myself as the new director of Progress Educational Trust (PET), the UK charity that publishes BioNews. Throughout its 15 year history, PET has been dedicated to facilitating informed discussion in the areas of assisted reproduction, embryo research and human genetics, via public...[Read More]

Science adviser backs animal eggs for human stem cells

The UK Government's chief scientific adviser has expressed his support for proposals to use animal eggs in the creation of human embryonic stem (ES) cells for research purposes. Sir David King said last week that such work should be allowed under tight regulations, adding that it...[Read More]

Patients want 'hybrid' embryo research to go ahead

The UK's Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has announced a public consultation on the creation of human-animal hybrid embryos. Scientists want to use such embryos to create genetically human embryonic stem cells(ES cells). This method would overcome difficulties associated with the collection of human eggs from donors, and would...[Read More]

Animal egg stem cell research plans in jeopardy

UK scientists hoping to use animal eggs in human embryonic stem (ES) cell research face a ban on their work, if proposals outlined in a recent White Paper become law. The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), which regulates all human embryo research carried out in...[Read More]

British stem cell scientists seek licence to create chimeras

British scientists from three separate research centres have announced their intention to submit simultaneous proposals to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) later this month seeking a licence to create human-animal chimeras. The researchers - based in London, Newcastle and Edinburgh - are seeking approval to carry out...[Read More]