Book Review: What's the Use of Race? Modern Governance and the Biology of Difference

The study of genetic diversity between ethnic groups can help explain the ways in which race influences our biology and susceptibility to disease. But what do we mean by 'race', exactly? These issues are considered in the collection of essays 'What's the use of race? Modern governance and the biology of difference', edited by Dr Ian Whitmarsh and Dr David Jones...[Read More]

Book Review: Unnatural - The Heretical Idea of Making People

What does Mary Shelley's Frankenstein have in common with Ridley Scott's 'Blade Runner', Kazuo Ishiguro's 'Never Let Me Go' and Aldous Huxley's 'Brave New World'? According to Philip Ball, these are all permutations of the myth of anthropoieia - the artificial creation of human life...[Read More]

Event Review: Unnatural - The Heretical Idea of Making People

The creation of human life through artificial means is often portrayed as an inherently dangerous and unnatural process, where the product of any such attempt is assumed to be somehow inferior and lacking in humanity. This is a recurrent idea that looms over contemporary debate surrounding many scientific advances and technologies in biology, from reproductive cloning to embryonic stem cell (ESC) research, IVF and human genetics....[Read More]

Book Review: Knock Yourself Up - A Tell-All Guide to Becoming a Single Mom

Were it not for the unconventional way she conceived her child, Louise Sloan would otherwise seem like a characteristic New York yummy mummy. Author and magazine editor, she manages to balance her family life with her young toddler with her busy work schedule, with the help of a live-in nanny and flexible working hours. However, single and lesbian, Sloan became pregnant with her son Scott through donor insemination, and her experience of assisted reproductive technology as a single woman is t...[Read More]

Book Review: Defending the Genetic Supermarket - Law and Ethics of Selecting the Next Generation

The philosopher Robert Nozick introduced the idea of a genetic supermarket in 1974, before the first IVF birth and the era of medical genetics. At the genetic supermarket, he imagined, prospective parents could shop for desired traits, and design a child to their particular specifications. In 'Defending the Genetic Supermarket', Colin Gavaghan explores the ethics underlying the use of assisted reproductive technologies, in particular preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD), as well as the cur...[Read More]

Stem cells for lung repair identified and tested in mice

Stem cells that are able to regenerate damaged lung tissue have been discovered by scientists. The brochioalveolar stem cells (BASCs), naturally present in the lungs of rodents and humans, are capable of rebuilding alveoli - the small air sacs in lungs...[Read More]

Britain trials embryonic stem cells as treatment for blindness

UK scientists have been granted approval to begin the first clinical trial using embryonic stem cells (ES cells) in Europe, which they hope could lead to an effective treatment for a degenerative eye disease causing blindness...[Read More]

UK Donor Link receives temporary reprieve

UK DonorLink (UKDL) has been offered a further grant from the UK Government while alternative funding options for the service are considered....[Read More]

Warning over animal-human hybrids

Medical research involving animals that contain human material (ACHM) raises new ethical concerns and should be more tightly regulated, warns a new report by the Academy of Medical Sciences....[Read More]

Study finds key genes involved in aggressive form of breast cancer

Scientists have identified a set of 15 genes that are associated with triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), an aggressive form of the disease that does not respond to the drugs commonly used to treat other types of breast cancer...[Read More]

Mouse retina grown from stem cells

Embryonic stem cells have been used to generate a basic retina, the part of the eye that detects light and is needed for vision. The retinal tissue could be used to treat some forms of blindness, such as retinitis pigmentosa and age-related macular degeneration, and to investigate and screen potential new drugs for a range of eye diseases....[Read More]

Rare gene mutation linked to schizophrenia

Scientists have identified a rare gene mutation which they believe is linked to schizophrenia. The researchers from the University of California, San Diego and Trinity College Dublin performed a genome-wide association scan...

Promiscuous mice have more fertile sons

Promiscuity may increase the fertility of male offspring, a new study has found. Australian researchers demonstrated that males from polygamous breeds of mice out-compete monogamous males in the race to fertilise females and produce offspring....[Read More]

Faulty stem cells may cause male pattern baldness

Faulty stem cells may cause the onset of male pattern baldness, scientists have found. Professor George Cotsarelis and colleagues at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in Philadelphia discovered that stem cells are present in the hair follicles of both bald and hairy scalp regions in men with male pattern baldness...[Read More]

Financial whizzkids could carry 'warrior gene' variant

A gene variant that has previously been linked to aggression and impulsiveness – the MAOA-L ‘warrior gene' variant – is also associated with shrewd financial decision-making, a new study claims...[Read More]