| Personalised medicine patents disputed at US Supreme Court |
| 19 December 2011 - by Nishat Hyder |
| A patent for a diagnostic test is currently under consideration by the US Supreme Court. The eventual decision may have profound implications for the burgeoning 'personalised medicine' industry which often relies on DNA tests to guide physicians in choosing tailored therapies for patients... [Read More] |
| Lesbian mums legally recognised in South Australia |
| 19 December 2011 - by Ayesha Ahmad |
| Lesbian parents in South Australia who conceive through IVF can now both be registered on their child's birth certificate, after a new law passed to recognise female, same-sex couples as the co-parents of babies came into effect.... [Read More] |
| Breast cancer risk genes from mum or dad? It could affect diagnosis age |
| 19 December 2011 - by Dr Rebecca Robey |
| Women who inherit breast cancer risk genes from their father may be diagnosed with, or even develop, the disease several years earlier than those who inherit the same genes from their mother. This may have implications for screening and treatment strategies for those at risk of hereditary breast cancer... [Read More] |
| Gene therapy breakthrough for blood-clotting disease |
| 19 December 2011 - by Dr Zara Mahmoud |
| Scientists have successfully used gene therapy to alleviate the symptoms of the blood disease haemophilia B in six human volunteers, raising hope for a potential cure. The study has been hailed as a landmark trial for gene therapy... [Read More] |
| US politician against gay marriage allegedly donated sperm to lesbian couples |
| 19 December 2011 - by Dr Kimberley Bryon-Dodd |
| A former US Republican politician has made international headlines after allegedly acting as a sperm donor to multiple women in New Zealand. According to the New Zealand Herald, Bill Johnson provided sperm to at least nine women although official guidelines state that no man should donate to more than four families.... [Read More] |
| Gene that could protect against colorectal cancer identified, tested in mice |
| 19 December 2011 - by Sarah Pritchard |
| A gene known as deleted colorectal carcinoma (DCC) could safeguard against the development of the colorectal cancer by inducing a process called apoptosis, or cell death... [Read More] |
| New law empowers UK Government to transfer HFEA's functions |
| 19 December 2011 - by Sandy Starr |
| The Public Bodies Bill - which empowers the UK Government to transfer the functions of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), the country's regulator of fertility treatment and embryo research - has received Royal Assent and has become the Public Bodies Act. This Act represents the realisation in statute of the Coalition Government's longstanding plans for a 'bonfire of the quangos'... [Read More] |
| US embryonic stem cell researchers face logistical and funding difficulties |
| 19 December 2011 - by Antony Starza-Allen |
| A survey of over 200 human embryonic stem cell (hESC) researchers in the US has found almost four in ten respondents had experienced delays in obtaining cell lines and over one-quarter said they were unable to obtain a required cell line at all.... [Read More] |
