Issue 551 (29 March 2010)

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Going solo: fertility treatment options and the law for women starting a family on their own

29 March 2010 - by Natalie Gamble

It's tough to get life sorted as a modern woman. Education, work and finances now commonly take women well into their thirties before they decide to start a family, and not everyone manages to find the right partner by the time they get there. It is perhaps not surprising that increasing numbers of women are making the decision to start a family independently...[Read More]

Bioethics à la Française: the new French bioethics laws

29 March 2010 - by Professor Donna Dickenson

'Certain countries in Europe, France in particular, are trying to resist the ultra-liberal individualist ideology of the reproductive market. It's too bad that some other countries have maintained a conspiracy of silence on that subject.' ...[Read More]

Flash cooling holds promise for egg storage

24 March 2010 - by Alison Cranage

Droplet size, temperature and composition can affect the vitrification process, according to research published in PNAS last month. The findings could be used to improve the vitrification techniques used to store biological materials, including eggs for IVF treatment...[Read More]

Geneticist wins £1 million religious prize

29 March 2010 - by Harriet Vickers

A former priest who is now an authority on genetics and evolution has won the Templeton prize - one of the world's top religious accolades - and its one million GBP award...[Read More]

Infertility linked to aggressive prostate cancer

29 March 2010 - by Dr Vivienne Raper

Infertile men may be more likely to develop aggressive prostate cancer, according to US researchers. But The Prostate Cancer Charity warn more research is needed before firm conclusions can be drawn...[Read More]

'Junk' DNA makes us unique, study finds

29 March 2010 - by Will Fletcher

A recent study has lent more weight to the view that 'Junk DNA' may be anything but junk. A joint effort by the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, Germany and Stanford University, California, US, has uncovered large differences between the non-coding DNA of different individuals, which may be associated with differing levels of disease risk and other traits too...[Read More]

Infertile UK woman treated with Viagra

29 March 2010 - by Charlie McDermott

Infertile Kerry Horan, 34, gave birth after being given Viagra...[Read More]

Pioneering trial aims to speed up delivery of personalised breast cancer drugs

29 March 2010 - by Sarah Guy

Researchers at the University of California San Francisco are about to begin a groundbreaking new breast cancer trial designed to speed up the drugs discovery process and cut the delivery time of new personalised cancer therapies...[Read More]

US announces genetic test database

29 March 2010 - by Kyrillos Georgiadis

The US National Institute of Health (NIH) has announced it plans to create a public Genetic Testing Registry (GTR). The database aims to improve the levels of information accessible to consumers, researchers and healthcare providers, about the availability, validity and clinical usefulness of genetic tests...[Read More]

Change to UK law allows same-sex couples to become legal parents

29 March 2010 - by Ailsa Stevens

New legislation allowing same-sex couples to become the legal parents of children born following surrogacy will come into force next week. The change to the law means that couples using surrogacy no longer need to be married to be named on their child's birth certificate and is intended to afford unmarried and same-sex couples using any form of assisted reproduction the same rights to legal parenthood. It forms the final stage of the implementation of the UK's Human Fertilisati...[Read More]

Top US students offered higher egg prices

29 March 2010 - by Antony Blackburn-Starza

US ethical guidelines on compensation for egg donation are frequently being breached and student donors with higher-than-average SAT scores are being offered higher compensation for their eggs, according to a US study...[Read More]

Book Review: Communicating Biological Sciences - Ethical and Metaphorical Dimensions

22 March 2010 - by Marianne Neary

My first impression of this book was that the title smacks of a dull read. On the contrary, however, this book provides a stimulating awakening into one of the challenges facing science writing today, namely the use of metaphor: its purpose in communication and consequences for science and public understanding...[Read More]

Book Review: Designs on Nature - Science and Democracy in Europe and the United States

22 March 2010 - by Dr Darryl Gunson

In this fascinating and important book Professor Sheila Jasanoff addresses some big questions about the politics of bioscience and biotechnology: What are the consequences of the shift from industrial to knowledge-based societies? What are the effects of rapid changes in biotechnology on politics and culture? What criteria can be invoked to judge that some countries are handling the changes more effectively, more ethically, or more democratically than others?...[Read More]