Genetic susceptibility to common complex disorders

As our understanding of genetics and associated disorders has developed, many genetic tests performing functions - from predicting certain genetic predispositions and identifying rare monogenetic disorders, to ancestry and other 'novelty' tests - have been introduced to the healthcare market. Many geneticists are concerned about the regulation of these tests, which are performed by the NHS, the private sector, or distributed directly to consumers. Experts are calling for more transparent eval...[Read More]

'Older Mothers': a report on the '21st century motherhood’ conference held at UCL, 18 September 2009

Maria Bousada, 69, once the world's oldest mother, died in July this year leaving behind two young children born following IVF only two years earlier. Her death reignited the debate surrounding 'older mothers' - or more specifically, post-menopausal women who require fertility treatment to conceive. In response to media attention surrounding Ms Bousada's death, Professor Sammy Lee, an expert in medical ethics, embryology and biomedical sciences based at University College London...[Read More]

Banking crisis - what should be done about the sperm donor shortage?

An acute shortage of donor sperm is diminishing the capacity of the UK's public and private health sectors to treat infertility, resulting in growing concern and lengthening waiting lists at clinics. The shortage is widely attributed to the removal, in 2005, of entitlement to donor anonymity. The Progress Educational Trust, with support from the Royal Society of Medicine and the British Fertility Society (BFS) staged a panel discussion on Thursday 25 June 2009 entitled 'Banking Crisis - what ...[Read More]

Registering concern: should anonymous gamete donors be encouraged to reregister and if so how?

The entitlement to anonymity of UK sperm and egg donors ended in 2005, a development that has been welcomed by those who spent long years campaigning for it, and criticised by those who blame it for a current shortage of donor sperm and eggs. Because this change in law applies only prospectively, it remains difficult - if not impossible - for previous generations of donor-conceived individuals to locate their genetic parents and other genetic relatives. Initiatives such as UK DonorLink and it...[Read More]

The future of IVF remains problematic

Thirty years after the world's first IVF-baby was born commentators and reporters are assessing the gains made by the fertility treatment and the future that lies ahead. Although it seems IVF today has become the established and routine medical procedure its pioneers in 1978 probably hoped it would become, issues...[Read More]

From consensus to plurality: the negotiated compromise and public consultations

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]

Book Review: Choosing Life, Choosing Death: The Tyranny of Autonomy in Medical Ethics and Law

Autonomy is commonly thought of as a guiding ethical principle which promotes the ability of an individual to determine their own 'life path'. It is commonly translated in the legal area in positive terms of self-determinism and negative constraints of non-interference. But the term holds a special meaning in the ethics/rights discourse as an inalienable virtuous human quality which generates rights and warrants respect...[Read More]

Stem cell doctor misconduct hearing underway

The UK's General Medical Council (GMC) is hearing evidence of a Dutch clinic that supplied stem cell therapies to British patients alleged to be not 'intended for human use'....[Read More]

MP questions minister over fertility watchdog investigation

Questions have been raised in Parliament over the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority’s (HFEA) decision to launch an internal investigation into its operations during the investigation of Mohamed Taranissi, the 'person responsible' for the Assisted Reproduction and Gynaecology Centre (ARGC) in 2007...[Read More]

Fertility watchdog action against IVF doctor 'misconceived'

The UK's Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) is conducting an internal investigation into its own failings when investigating Mohamed Taranissi, the 'person responsible' for the Assisted Reproduction and Gynaecology Centre (ARGC), London, in 2007 concerning allegations that he was operating without a licence, The Times newspaper has reported....[Read More]

Sperm shortage drives some Brits to Denmark

A British woman has travelled to Denmark to undergo donor insemination after the fertility clinic where she had been receiving treatment in the UK ran out of sperm, BBC News reports. Single and 41, Abby, who is using a pseudonym, made the decision after three unsuccessful insemination attempts in the UK using donated sperm. Once the clinic informed her there was no more sperm available she contacted the Danish clinic. Following treatment there she gave birth to a...[Read More]

Italian human stem cell scientists lose funding battle

A group of Italian scientists have lost an appeal to challenge a research funding call that excludes embryonic stem (ES) cell research even though the technique is lawful in the country, Nature reports. The Italian health ministry put together an expert committee to produce a set of proposals to attract funding, after the previous stem cell research fund was marred in controversy following allegations that funds were being distributed in a non-transparent and arbitrary manner. ...[Read More]

New guidelines on egg freezing issued in UK

The British Fertility Society (BFS) and Association of Clinical Embryologists (ACE) have issued new guidelines on egg freezing, also known as cryopreservation, after a review of the technology to ensure that patients have access to accurate information on the benefits and drawbacks of egg freezing as a fertility option. The guidelines, published in the journal Human Fertility, recognised that although egg freezing is a promising technology it is nevertheless still in its infancy...[Read More]

Lying down after artificial insemination improves pregnancy rates, study shows

A study in the Netherlands has shown that lying down following artificial insemination, also known as intrauterine insemination (IUI), increases the chances of pregnancy by 50 per cent....[Read More]

Scientists demonstrate progress in stem cell therapies to repair damaged sight

Clinical studies presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in the United States have shown that stem cells may be used effectively in the treatment of eye disease and other retinal damage. As reported by Science Daily, in separate trials researchers demonstrated that fetal cells and retinal precursor cells derived from embryonic stem cells and also those developed using iPS (induced pluripotent stem) cells can help regenerate damaged areas of...[Read More]

Scientists grow beating heart muscle tissue

A team of Harvard scientists has created 'beating' heart muscle using mouse embryonic stem cells. The research, published last week in the journal Science, means that scientists are one step closer to creating effective stem cell-based techniques to repair damage following heart attacks....[Read More]

Conviction for cloning scientist Hwang Woo-Suk

A South Korean court has convicted disgraced stem cell scientist, Hwang Woo-Suk, of embezzling funds and purchasing human eggs for research, after a trial lasting over three years. Hwang was given a two-year sentence suspended for three years by the Seoul Central District Court last week...[Read More]