European Court of Human Rights upholds Austria's ban on egg or sperm donation for IVF

IVF using donated egg or sperm other than from a spouse will remain banned in Austria. This was the final decision made by the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (the Court) on 3 November in the closing of the case SH and others v Austria....[Read More]

Book Review: My Beautiful Genome - Exposing Our Genetic Future One Quirk at a Time

My Beautiful Genome is the story of DNA told through one woman's quest to find out if the secret to her depression lies in her genes...[Read More]

Reflections on the ethical debate surrounding non-invasive prenatal genetic diagnosis

An up-and-coming technology will soon allow genetic testing of a fetus with a simple maternal blood test early in the first trimester of the pregnancy by isolating cell-free fetal DNA in the mother's plasma. Currently, obtaining reliable diagnostic genetic information requires invasive testing with Chorionic Villus Sampling (CVS) or amniocentesis. Both carry a risk of miscarriage and are performed between weeks 10 and 20 of the pregnancy...[Read More]

The certain scientist and the uncertain gene

Philosopher Langdon Winner rather poetically refers to scientific public engagement as 'technological somnambulism'. The image he invokes is that of a vast network of societal sleepwalking; interacting but not engaging. This is especially true within a biomedical context. Whenever an inventive entity creates novel technologies, he or she inspires and develops two important constructs. The first is the physical instrument, or perhaps something less concrete, such as an idea or methodology...[Read More]

Health disparities in the age of personalised medicine?

The intersection of racial categories and emerging genetic technology is bound to be vexed given - for example - the long history of eugenics and segregation in the United States. Although the topic has received little attention among the UK general public, pharmaceutical companies on both sides of the Atlantic are investing huge amounts of research and development into individually tailored drugs - pharmacogenetics....[Read More]

Event Review: Selective Reproduction, Bioethics, and the Idea of Eugenics

A seminar entitled 'Selective Reproduction, Bioethics, and the Idea of Eugenics' held at the Wellcome Collection Conference Centre on 6 June attempted to untangle what is meant by the contemporary 'idea of eugenics' in relation to bioethics and, specifically, selective reproduction. Stephen Wilkinson, professor of Bioethics at Keele University and author of 'Choosing Tomorrow's Children: The ethics of selective reproduction', asked the question: 'Is the fact that an action or policy is a case...[Read More]

Genes, ancestry and racial identity

The Progress Educational Trust's recent debate 'Is There a Place for Race in Biology' generated lively discussion around whether the accurate identification of genetically-distinct populations is possible or desirable. The semantic issue of whether the term 'race' in this context should be abandoned in favour of 'ethnicity', 'ancestry', or some other term was also raised...[Read More]

Choice, autonomy and eugenics: Thoughts on the HGC's report on preconception genetic testing and screening

As highlighted in BioNews, in early April 2011 the UK's Human Genetics Commission (HGC) published a report supporting preconception genetic testing and screening (1). Preconception screening, which can be broadly described as identifying carriers of genetic mutations to inform reproductive decision-making for the person tested or his/her relatives, is well established in some jurisdictions but relatively unknown in the UK...[Read More]

IVF and the prevention of mitochondrial DNA disease: the moral issues

Medicine has faced many controversial milestones, none more so than those involving reproduction. The UK Government must now decide whether we can use IVF technology to reduce the risk of transmission of mitochondrial DNA abnormalities. Will they accept it or reject it?...[Read More]

Is preconception genetic testing and screening eugenic?

Genetic testing and screening of prospective parents before conception to examine the inheritance of a genetic condition is a new area for discussion. The Human Genetics Commission's (HGC) report 'Increasing options, informing choice: A report on preconception genetic testing and screening', published last week, is thus timely and raises several serious ethical issues...[Read More]

Event Review: Mutants and What to Do About Them

'There's a bar at a nightclub and a girl is deciding whether to take some guy she's met home with her. She's not intent on asking does he dance well or does he have a good sense of humour… no, no, no. She takes a little bit of his hair and she runs out the door, down the street to the local genome shop… she hands over the hair with her credit card and comes back in 15 minutes. She opens up the envelope and she says, 'Wow, he's got a genetic quotient of 99'. She goes back to the bar and says ...[Read More]

Event Review: Francis Galton and Francis Crick - Cases of Mistaken Identity?

This small session, convened in the Wellcome Trust's Library last Wednesday, was the tale of two Francis's. The discussion highlighted the lives of, and drew on the similarities between, Francis Galton - who coined the term eugenics - and Francis Crick - who determined the structure of DNA with James Watson...[Read More]

Bridge to offer Counsyl test

A UK fertility centre is to offer the controversial US genetic test that promises to eliminate the chances of a couple having a baby with over 100 inherited diseases....[Read More]

Book Review: Enhancing Evolution - The Ethical Case for Making Better People

Quite understandably, eugenics got a bad name during the 20th century; and, in many people's minds, it is still associated with programmes of mass forced sterilisation and industrial killing. On the other hand, the project of 'improving' humanity - which is what eugenics is really about - doesn't have to demand these measures...[Read More]

Theatre Review: A Stroke of Genius

As the curtain dropped on the closing night performance of the London-based PIT Theatre Cooperative's world premiere production performed throughout August at this year's Edinburgh Fringe Festival, so too ended the rare opportunity to witness a science communication creative, if not comical, success (of which I hope we see more). The PIT Collective's topical comedy entitled A Stroke of Genius bravely and uniquely informed its audience as its light-hearted plot turned on broad-sweeping bioethi...[Read More]

Why it should not be illegal to implant 'abnormal' embryos

The draft Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill, which will replace the 1990 HFE Act, will have its 3rd reading in the UK House of Lords shortly, before returning for its final Commons debate. The draft Bill has been criticised for allowing too much scope for 'designer babies' and for the...[Read More]

PGD and the Human Tissue and Embryos (Draft) Bill

The UK Draft Human Tissue and Embryos Bill, published recently, explicitly covers a number of uses of preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD). In this commentary I concentrate on just one - PGD to avoid diseases or disorders with a genetic component. The Draft Bill proposes that a licence can only be granted...[Read More]

Embryo testing: Why drawing lines risks devaluing the disabled

It isn't uncommon, at international conferences, to hear praise for the UK's approach to regulating reproductive and genetic technologies. The cautious, incremental approach of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) is often contrasted - favourably - with, for example, the rather dramatic oscillation between regulatory extremes seen in Italy, which had...[Read More]

Concern over 'GM humans' in UK

Proposals by the UK Government to permit the genetic alteration of human embryos for research purposes are paving the way for 'GM humans', according to David King, director of pressure group Human Genetics Alert (HGA). However, scientists disagree, saying that such research should be permitted, as it...[Read More]

Behavioural genetics and risk of 'criminality'

We're not arguing that genes made him do it but if violent behaviour is genetic then it is probably treatable'. This comment by a US lawyer on behalf of his client (who was eventually executed for murder last year) sums up the hope invested in research into violent and antisocial...[Read More]