Earlier this year we reported that British scientists had been given the go ahead to begin gene editing on human embryos. Assistant Professor Fredrik Lanner of the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm has beaten these scientists to the punch, and in a world-first has already attempted to edit the genome of a healthy embryo. Using Crispr-Cas9, a gene-editing technology first developed by Martin…
Tag: stem cells
Cause of Multiple Miscarriages Identified
The cause of miscarriages has stumped scientists for decades. It seems to ‘just happen’, particularly in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. As many as one in five women will suffer miscarriage at some point in their lives, but a further one in one hundred women will suffer from multiple miscarriages (i.e. 3 or more). Despite…
Stem Cells May Cure Most Common Cause of Blindness
Age Related Macular Degeneration (ARMD) is the leading cause of sight loss in the UK, and over 600,000 Britons are currently affected by the condition (NHS, 2015). The macular is an area of the eye which provides sharp central vision. Although the cause for degeneration in this area isn’t known, it is suspected that free radicals…
Gingernut's Science Dunk 