IVF News
IVF News
Consent agreements for cryopreserved embryos: the case for choice
Embryos created by IVF (in vitro fertilisation) can be cryopreserved (stored) for possible future use. All couples who have embryos stored in the UK are currently bound by law to a single form of agreement, allowing each genetic parent to withdraw consent at any time before the embryo is transferred. This article makes the case for allowing an alternative consent agreement...
IVF twins born to first-time mum aged 62
A 62-year old Bulgarian woman has reportedly become the country's oldest first-time mother to give birth to twins after IVF (in vitro fertilisation) treatment. 'Age was not an obstacle for me, I so much wanted to have children', said Krasimira Dimitrova from the Northern city of Ruse, who sought treatment with IVF after Bulgarian authorities refused to allow her to adopt a baby, on account of her age....
Consent for embryo creation and storage: time for a change in the law?
When Natallie Evans lost her case to prevent the destruction of her embryos in 2007, many people were moved by her plight. The letter of the law had been followed, but with tragic consequences for her...
New fees boost single-embryo transfer
The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) announced last week that it will change the way it charges clinics for IVF....
Canadian fertility law 'a farce', says clinician
Canada's fertility licensing and regulatory body, Assisted Human Reproduction Canada (AHRC), has come under fire from lawyers and doctors who are finding the country's fertility laws vague and uncertain, the National Post newspaper reports...
Genetic clue to living the high life
Two genes that help adapt the human body to high-altitude living have been identified by a study published in Science this month. The study may help scientists understand heart and lung disease where patients have decreased oxygen levels...
Stem cell progress towards treating deafness
US Scientists have produced mouse inner ear hair cells using stem cells, paving the way for a cure for deafness and other related balance disorders...
Multiple Sclerosis stem cell therapy trialled
A clinical trial investigating the treatment of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) using bone marrow stem cells has produced encouraging results, researchers at Bristol University have reported....
Neanderthal genome sequenced
Neanderthals are our closest evolutionary relative, a study published in the journal Science has found...
HFEA squeezes multiple birth limit to 20 per cent
The UK's Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has set a 20 per cent maximum multiple birth rate for fertility clinics. Last year's maximum rate - the first since the HFEA's multiple births policy was introduced - was 24 percent. The new rate will become effective from 6 April 2010....
Older mothers and global/national responsibilities
Much of the debate about elderly motherhood has focussed on the anomalous situation of a woman simultaneously qualifying for an old age pension and child benefit. It is an engaging topic, but the discussion needs to be widened to include a consideration of global/national responsibilities: the relationship of a woman who provides an egg to, following its fertilisation, the woman in whom the embryo is implanted....
Genetic test helps predict risk of death from prostate cancer
A combination of three genetic alterations that dramatically reduce chances of surviving prostate cancer have been identified by researchers at the UK's Institute of Cancer Research (ICR). It is hoped that this finding could lead to the development of a genetic test to help doctors decide how aggressively to treat tumours....
Study shows rapid decline in women's eggs after 30
The first study to chart the fate of a woman's supply of eggs from conception to the menopause, carried out by researchers of the University of St Andrews and Edinburgh University, UK, shows that the average 30-year-old woman will have just 12 per cent of her original ovarian 'store' of eggs left. The study, published in the journal PLoS ONE, also shows that by the age of 40, only three per cent of the estimated two million eggs a woman is born with are left. The rapid decrease...
Alcohol reduces IVF success
A study conducted by researchers at the Harvard Medical School, US, has suggested that consumption of alcohol may be detrimental to chances of success in {GLINK(1727,IVF (in vitro fertilisation))} treatment. Consumption of just six units of alcohol a week by both partners reduced the probability of conception by 26 per cent. The study particularly singled out apparent detrimental effects to drinking white wine in women and drinking beer for the male partners. In those women whose partner dran...
The HFE Act 2008 - an end or a beginning?
1 October 2009 marked the second and major phase of the coming into force of the amendments to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology (HFE) Act 1990 made by the HFE Act 2008. The first phase, in April 2009, concerned parenthood provisions and the third and final phase (expected April 2010), will affect parental orders in surrogacy arrangements. Even from a legal perspective it is unfortunate and rather baffling that these changes have been brought about by amending the original legislation...
Overweight women risk their IVF chances
Women who are overweight or obese have lower chances of successful {GLINK(1727,IVF (in vitro fertilisation))} treatment, according to researchers reporting at the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) conference in Atlanta, US, this week. The researchers, from Michigan State University in the US, found that women who were defined as clinically obese were up to 35 per cent less likely to conceive and have a live baby, and twice as likely to have a stillbirth, than their lighter cou...
Revealed at last: the epigenome
The first detailed map of the human epigenome has been published. The epigenome, sometimes described as the 'instruction manual' to the human {GLINK(1691,genome)}, is a regulatory network of chemical switches that governs the activation of human {GLINK(1687,genes)}, and is therefore ultimately responsible for how a person grows and develops. Scientists believe that this exciting work could lead to new treatments for a range of illnesses including mental conditions such as schizophrenia, and l...
Gene linked to mucus production hints at treatment for cystic fibrosis
Scientists in the US have found a genetic switch that effects excess mucus production in lung diseases such as asthma and cystic fibrosis (CF), and even the common cold....
Gene therapy makes monkeys 'see red'
Scientists in the USA have used {GLINK(1688,gene therapy)} to restore full vision to two male squirrel monkeys with red-green colour blindness, raising hopes that the technique might one day be used to treat humans. The researchers injected both monkeys with the human form of a {GLINK(1687,gene)} which enables detection of the colour red. Five months after the treatment, the monkeys were able to successfully identify a red pattern on a background of grey dots....
New type 2 diabetes gene makes cells resistant to insulin
An international team of researchers has identified a novel gene variant in people with type 2 diabetes (T2D) that affects how muscle cells respond to insulin. The work - published in the journal Nature Genetics - was conducted by teams including those of Drs Robert Sladek and Constantin Polychronakos of McGill's Faculty of Medicine, Canada; Professor Philippe Froguel of the CNRS and Lille University in France and Imperial College London; and Dr Oluf Pedersen of the University of Copenhagen a...
Doctors may be offered discount genetic tests
Doctors might soon be offered reduced price DNA analysis from genetic profiling companies such as 23andme, in the hope that this will better equip them to answer any questions their patients have about the tests and the results that cause concern....
Study claims genes may influence age at which girls lose virginity
A study published in the journal Child Development suggests that a father's absence may not be a causal factor in a child's earlier sexual maturation, but rather other factors such as the social environment and genetics....
Birth complications at higher maternal age related to age at first period
Mothers who started menstruating at an earlier age are at a higher risk for complications at birth, researchers from Cambridge, UK report. This means that the higher risk for complications for older mothers identified in other studies may be dependent on the time that has elapsed since their first period, rather than the mother's age per se. These results are to be published in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology....
Revised rules allow couples to store embryos for longer
The UK Government has introduced changes to allow individuals whose {GLINK(1681,embryos)} have been frozen for over five years before the Human Fertilisation and Embryology (HFE) Act 2008 comes into force on 1 October 2009 to store them for longer. Before the changes were made, the Act stipulated that such embryos must be destroyed, but Health Minister Gillian Merron stepped in to make a supplementary provision to the Act to extend the time limit for storage to a total of ten years....
Females lacking second X-chromosome may have started life 'male'
Turner Syndrome, a condition in which women have only one {GLINK(1723,X chromosome)} instead of two, may be caused by a missing {GLINK(1743,Y chromosome)} instead of a missing X as previously thought. Research published in Cell at the start of this month suggests that disruption in the Y chromosome can cause a range of male sex disorders including, surprisingly, Turner Syndrome which has always previously been considered a female sex disorder....
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