Science offers many hopes to would-be families anxious to start a family. But in this week's Scrubbing Up, a leading expert warns age is still the critical factor in achieving that dream. 10 February 2010, 12:04 am
A 59-year-old plans to have a baby through IVF and dissenting voices can be heard everywhere from the newspapers to the office watercooler. But is there really any reason why we should have a problem with the idea, asks medical ethicist Daniel Sokol. 26 January 2010, 11:55 am
The UN declaration that it has never faced a crisis on the scale found in Haiti following Tuesday's earthquake dominates Sunday's papers. 17 January 2010, 6:55 am
A woman has given birth to twins after she had fertility treatment using the frozen sperm of her late husband after he died of cancer. 8 January 2010, 12:26 pm
A liberalisation of the rules regulating fertility clinic in Denmark has seen people travelling long distance for treatment in the country. 23 December 2009, 12:35 pm
An embryo screening test called preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD)is safe for the children of singleton pregnancies, Belgian researchers say. 21 December 2009, 1:59 pm
The Supreme Court in the Republic of Ireland dismisses an appeal by a woman to have three of her frozen embryos released to her. 15 December 2009, 1:19 pm
A tutor is jailed for indecently assaulting a girl as she read the Koran to him at her Leicestershire home in the 70s and 80s. 10 December 2009, 4:48 pm
The fertility watchdog is to discuss more generous compensation to egg and sperm donors as a means of tackling the severe shortage of supplies for those desperate for a baby. 9 December 2009, 5:50 pm
The BBC's Caroline Duffield reports on the continued tension between rival communities in the Nigerian city of Jos after the recent slaughter of at least 100 people. 12 March 2010, 5:30 pm
A Lincolnshire woman has triplets, two years after the birth of her first daughter from the same set of eggs, making them quadruplets. 4 March 2010, 7:32 pm
The residents of Guanmenyan prepare to abandon the village, as a local reservoir is expanded to feed the thirst for water of China's big cities, flooding their homes. 3 March 2010, 1:02 am
Mental health is a huge global concern, with one in four people experiencing some form of mental health problem at some point in their lives. Psychiatric disorders are sometimes difficult to study, as they are diagnosed on the basis of observed behaviours... 12 March 2010, 2:56 pm
On Tuesday (9 March) the UK's Human Tissue Authority (HTA) took the unprecedented step of writing to more than 150 organisations to express our concerns that umbilical cord blood is being collected unlawfully, and that this activity may compromise safety and quality standards. Our letters were targeted at those we... 12 March 2010, 11:09 am
In their concluding remarks, all three speakers said the answer to the question implicit in the event's title - if you are genetically predisposed to a neurodevelopmental disorder, does this effectively mean you are marked for life? - is an emphatic 'no'. Nonetheless, they had divergent views on the likelihood... 12 March 2010, 10:34 am
The UK's Human Tissue Authority (HTA) issued a press release this week warning of the dangers of collecting umbilical cord blood stem cells by those who are unqualified to do so. Cord blood is rich in stem cells that contain potentially powerful biological properties, which could be useful in the... 11 March 2010, 6:23 pm
Whether a stem cell develops into bone or fat can be determined by the type of mould it is grown in, scientists at the University of Chicago have found... 8 March 2010, 4:54 pm
Babies with few teeth on their first birthday are more likely to need corrective dental surgery by age 30, a study has found. The UK and Finnish researchers also discovered ten genetic variants influencing tooth development during a baby's first year... 8 March 2010, 4:20 pm
The UK supermarket chain Asda is to become the first to sell IVF drugs without profit, saving patients up to £820 per treatment cycle. The move is part of the retailer's bid to become the most competitive pharmacy in the UK.... 8 March 2010, 4:17 pm
A team of researchers based at Ohio State University, USA, have used Gene therapy to restore nerve and muscle function and prolong life in mice with a form of spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), a lethal childhood muscle-wasting disorder. Results from the study, published in the journal Nature Biotechnology, were so... 8 March 2010, 2:22 pm
Scientists have developed a way to identify six key genes which, if faulty, can prevent particular chemotherapy drugs from working in patients with breast cancer. The findings bring cancer therapy one step closer to the promise of targeted treatments for patients, based on the genetic characteristics of their tumours.... 8 March 2010, 1:30 pm
A drug dealer serving a life sentence is awaiting a Government decision on whether he can have artificial insemination, after being granted permission by prison bosses... 8 March 2010, 12:32 pm
Scientists have catalogued the genes of microbes living in our gut, information that could be crucial in assessing the impact of microbes on our health. The study, published in Nature, reports the sequencing of 3.3 million microbial genes, a gene set 150 times larger than the human genome.... 8 March 2010, 12:23 pm
A US company has been granted beneficial 'orphan drug' status by the American Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for an embryonic stem cell therapy it's developing to treat a rare form of blindness... 8 March 2010, 11:42 am
A genetic risk score based on several genetic markers associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD) does not improve the prediction of CVD risk, research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association has suggested... 8 March 2010, 11:31 am
Doctors need to be trained in DNA-based medicine, the US scientist who led the Human Genome Project has told a scientific conference... 5 March 2010, 4:52 pm
Women who undergo fertility treatment are four times more likely to have a stillborn baby than those who conceive naturally or use other methods, according to a new study... 1 March 2010, 5:03 pm
Researchers have found Asian-American women are less likely than white women to successfully have a baby through IVF, but were unable to pinpoint why... 1 March 2010, 4:58 pm
Regulation is important, but we are not discussing the most fundamental issue at hand: the human experiences that make or break surrogacy relationships. What common factors can be identified behind the small number of surrogacy cases that wind up in court?... 1 March 2010, 4:40 pm
Canadians need better protection from genetic discrimination by insurers and employers, according to Winnipeg North MP Judy Wasylycia-Leis... 1 March 2010, 4:31 pm
The US National Institutes of Health (NIH) has proposed a broader definition of 'human embryonic stem cell' (HES), which would allow Federal funding of research using cells at an early development stage.... 1 March 2010, 11:43 am
A personalised blood test that could track how a tumour responds to treatment and whether cancer is recurring has been developed by researchers in the U.S... 1 March 2010, 9:31 am