Issue 465 (07 July 2008)

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'Who Gets born?': Pre-birth testing, Public Deliberation and the Bioethics Council

03 July 2008 - by Dr Cordelia Thomas

There is an international trend to greater public participation in government decision making, resulting in a movement toward 'public consultation' or 'public engagement'. These require two-way communication, transparency of the decision making process and meaningful incorporation of public input into that process. However, in practice, much consultation involves tightly-scripted opportunities...[Read More]

Good regulation is all about the implementation: Lessons learnt from implementing new legislation

03 July 2008 - by Imogen Swann

On 5 July Regulations will be enforced that will require the procurement (collection) of cells and tissues for human treatment, including cord blood, stem cells in bone marrow and peripheral blood stem cells, to take place under a licence from the Human Tissue Authority (HTA). The Regulations require that staff...[Read More]

Single pregnancies should be the goal of fertility doctors

07 July 2008 - by Dr Kirsty Horsey

BioNews reporting from ESHRE conference, Barcelona:By Dr Kirsty Horsey: Delegates at the annual meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology have been told that more mental health problems are faced by parents of twins than of singletons, no matter how the children were conceived. Dr Leila...[Read More]

$200 IVF cycle to cut infertility in developing countries

07 July 2008 - by Ailsa Stevens

BioNews reporting from ESHRE conference, Barcelona:By Ailsa Taylor: Plans for an affordable and universally accessible IVF programme, which will be rolled out to tackle infertility in developing countries, were announced at a press conference at the European Society for Human Reproduction and Embryology annual meeting today. Dr Willem Ombelet...[Read More]

Donor-conceived children should be told at an early age

07 July 2008 - by Dr Kirsty Horsey

BioNews reporting from ESHRE conference, Barcelona:By Dr Kirsty Horsey: Researchers from the Centre for Family Research at Cambridge University in the UK have told the annual meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology that children born following the use of donor insemination should be told sooner...[Read More]

ART families without genetic or gestational links are still doing well

07 July 2008 - by Dr Kirsty Horsey

BioNews reporting from ESHRE conference, Barcelona:By Dr Kirsty Horsey: Researchers from the Centre for Family Research at Cambridge University in the UK say that families created by the use of sperm donation, egg donation and surrogacy are doing well, particularly in terms of their psychological well-being. The data, presented...[Read More]

Increased fertility problems for men over 40

07 July 2008 - by Ailsa Stevens

BioNews reporting from ESHRE conference, Barcelona:By Ailsa Taylor: Scientists have found further evidence to suggest that, like women, fertility drops in men as they age, heard delegates at the annual meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology. The research, led by Dr Stephanie Belloc of the...[Read More]

Parents should be allowed to transfer affected embryos, say ethicists

07 July 2008 - by Ailsa Stevens

BioNews reporting from ESHRE conference, Barcelona:By Ailsa Taylor: Amidst current debate about the implications of allowing couples to select embryos free from conditions with later onset, incomplete penetrance and (limited) treatment options, ethicists have recommended that parents undergoing pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) should, in certain circumstances, be allowed to...[Read More]

Licensing of cord blood collection comes into force in UK

07 July 2008 - by Dr Karen Devine

This week saw the introduction of licensing agreements for UK premises that wish to undertake the collection of umbilical cord blood (UCB) stem cells on behalf of pregnant women. Cord blood has been collected and used in the treatment of certain blood diseases such as leukaemia, and...[Read More]

'Egg sharing' and 'hybrid embryos' offer hope for stem cell research

07 July 2008 - by Dr Rebecca Robey

Two announcements made last week have important implications for the future progress of human stem cell research in the UK. Both were related to research involving 'therapeutic cloning' - the creation of stem cell lines from patients with incurable diseases (such as Alzheimer's and cardiomyopathy) in order to...[Read More]

Gene clue to Alzheimer's disease

07 July 2008 - by Alison Cranage

New research, published last month in the journal Cell, has identified a previously unknown gene, named CALHM1, that is linked with Alzheimer's disease. A certain allele, or version, of this gene, was found to be associated with an increased risk of developing late-onset Alzheimer's. A large international...[Read More]

70-year-old claimed to be world's oldest mother

07 July 2008 - by MacKenna Roberts

A 70-year-old woman in India is reportedly the world's oldest woman to give birth, when she had twins last week. The girl and boy babies were delivered one month early by emergency caesarean section but are reportedly alive and well after being transferred to specialist neonatal...[Read More]