Issue 392 (22 January 2007)

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Regulating egg donation for research: putting the cart before the horse?

22 February 2007 - by Dr Alexandra Plows

The UK's Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) recently decided to extend its licence to the North East England Stem Cell Institute (NESCI), allowing NESCI to ask women not already undergoing IVF to donate their eggs 'altruistically' for cell nuclear transfer (CNT) or therapeutic cloning research. It made this decision...[Read More]

Gene linked to Alzheimer's disease development

22 January 2007 - by Dr Laura Bell

By Dr Laura Bell: New research published early online in the journal Nature Genetics has linked mutations in the SORL1 gene with an increased risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. Alzheimer's disease is a progressive, degenerative and irreversible brain disorder that causes intellectual impairment, disorientation and eventually death. It is estimated...[Read More]

New York surgeons announce plans for womb transplant

22 January 2007 - by Antony Blackburn-Starza

Doctors based at the New York Downtown Hospital, have been given the go-ahead to begin screening women to undergo the first womb transplant in the US. The procedure will involve the removal and transferral of a uterus from a dead donor to a female recipient. After waiting...[Read More]

HFEA under fire for involvement in 'trial by TV''

22 January 2007 - by Antony Blackburn-Starza

The UK's Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has been heavily criticised for 'playing to the cameras' and jeopardising the fair trial of fertility expert, Mohamed Taranissi. The authority sent investigative teams, accompanied by police, to two fertility clinics owned by the doctor at the same time...[Read More]

Trans fats increase risk of infertility

22 January 2007 - by MacKenna Roberts

The more trans fats a woman eats, the more susceptible she becomes to ovulation-related infertility, a recent study conducted at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston concluded. Yet another reason to avoid processed fatty foods was established by Dr Jorge Chavarro and colleagues, who published...[Read More]

UK couple choose egg and sperm donor at US centre

22 February 2007 - by Dr Jess Buxton

A British couple have paid £9000 for fertility treatment with donor egg and sperm at a controversial US centre, the Daily Mail reports. The Abraham Centre for Life, in Texas, allows patients to choose both an egg and sperm donor, based on their physical characteristics. The...[Read More]