| UK Biobank, the world's largest biomedical database, opens online |
| 2 April 2012 - by Cait McDonagh |
| The world's largest database of medical information has opened online, allowing researchers around the world to access its contents. The UK Biobank holds anonymous information from more than 500,000 British people, making it a 'globally unique resource' according to England's chief medical officer, Dame Sally Davies... [Read More] |
| Vatican cancels stem cell research conference |
| 2 April 2012 - by Jessica Ware |
| The Vatican has cancelled a stem cell research conference scheduled to take place next month, citing a lack of participants... [Read More] |
| Myriad Genetics breast cancer gene patent ruling sent back to lower court |
| 2 April 2012 - by Dr Sarah Spain |
| The US Supreme Court has ordered that the two gene patents held by Myriad Genetics be sent back to the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, to be re-examined... [Read More] |
| Genetic flaw raises flu risk |
| 2 April 2012 - by Dr Nadeem Shaikh |
| Differences in the severity of people's flu symptoms may be due to a genetic variant, according to scientists... [Read More] |
| Call for moratorium on synthetic biology |
| 2 April 2012 - by Dr Louisa Petchey |
| Synthetic biology, which uses genetic engineering to build new genomes and organisms, has come under attack in a report published by Friends of the Earth and supported by over 100 other 'public interest' groups... [Read More] |
| All donor-conceived people should have access to donor information, Australian committee recommends |
| 2 April 2012 - by Rosemary Paxman |
| A law reform committee in the Australian state of Victoria has recommended that all donor-conceived people should be able to access identifying information about their donors... [Read More] |
| NHS watchdog not up to taking on HFEA's role |
| 2 April 2012 - by Dr Tamara Hirsch |
| A recent report claims England's regulator of health and social care, the Care Quality Commission (CQC), is not at present ready to take on the functions of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA)... [Read More] |
| Legal challenge mounted to Oklahoma 'personhood' amendment |
| 2 April 2012 - by Rosie Beauchamp |
| Civil liberty groups in the USA have filed a legal challenge to the 'personhood' ballot initiative in Oklahoma, as a separate measure known as the Personhood Act progresses through the State legislature... [Read More] |
| Positive results in motor neurone disease stem cell safety trial |
| 2 April 2012 - by Dr Linda Wijlaars |
| A clinical trial to test the safety of a stem cell treatment for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, the most common form of motor neurone disease, suggests that the new therapy is safe and well-tolerated. Encouragingly, one of the 12 patients participating in the study showed some improvement, although the trial was not designed to test the treatment's efficacy... [Read More] |
