Issue 467 (21 July 2008)

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How do we view alternative families?

21 July 2008 - by Olga van den Akker

Most cultures are advocates of procreation partly because it stabilises communities, it makes individual and collective economic sense, and it is culturally the norm. Consequently, not being able to conceive naturally sets infertile individuals and couples apart from the fertile majority of people who do not have to think about...[Read More]

World's first IVF baby turns 30

21 July 2008 - by Antony Blackburn-Starza

Louise Brown, the world's first IVF baby, will next week celebrate her 30th birthday - but as parents and children born through IVF representing each year since Louise was born came together at Bourn Hall fertility clinic to mark the occasion, many commentators have pointed to the continued...[Read More]

Ethics task force to examine use of microarrays in embryo screening

21 July 2008 - by Alison Cranage

The use of DNA chip (microarray) technology in embryo screening is to be investigated by an ethics task force from the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE). The technology has the potential to screen IVF embryos, in order to improve fertility treatment success rates. In...[Read More]

UK survey reveals that three-quarters of infertile patients would consider treatment abroad

21 July 2008 - by MacKenna Roberts

An overwhelming majority of infertility patients in the UK said they would contemplate travelling abroad for fertility treatment, according to the first comprehensive study on the strength and motivations behind the fertility tourism industry. Among the 339 infertile patients who responded to an online poll conducted by...[Read More]

Two studies identify genetic influences underlying obesity

21 July 2008 - by Rachael Panizzo

Researchers at Imperial College London have identified a genetic link to obesity. Comparing the DNA of over 13,000 obese individuals to the DNA of non-obese control subjects, they identified three single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the PCSK1 gene that were associated with obesity. The SNPs - single 'letter...[Read More]

Gene variant increases Africans' HIV risk

21 July 2008 - by Evelyn Harvey

A form of a gene that protects many Africans from certain forms of malaria increases HIV infection risk, according to a new study published in the journal Cell Host and Microbe. Researchers Professor Sunil K Ahuja, from The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio...[Read More]