Vital heart muscles damaged during cardio arrest can be replaced by stem cells within the organ with the help of a special protein, scientists have discovered. Heart attacks cause dangerous damage to muscle…
Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a significant and growing global public health problem. But the creation of a new type of stem cell offers new hope for therapies and drugs for this worldwide problem. In…
As many as a one in 20 men is infertile, but in many cases the underlying cause for it remains unknown. Recent research has found that a peculiarity in the way in which the DNA inside our mitochondria…
Thanks to the genetic revolution and the internet, we can now see a way to map genetic diseases and reduce the burden of inherited conditions. Each year more than 3 million children born with a serious…
Read the argument against the proposed legislation Patents are only to be for granted inventions - that’s the intent of the Patents Act 1990, it has been the law for nearly 400 years, and it’s also what…
Sexual orientation has long been cause for discussion and controversy, but just where does our sexual orientation come from? Are people “born gay” or are environmental causes at play? Historically, many…
Medical science has changed the human health and lifespan in the last century and now another revolution is coming in health. This revolution will entail closing the chasm between what medical evidence…
For the first time, scientists have made cells from healthy adult kidneys behave like stem cells, which can be used to grow any type of body tissue. Stem cell research has attracted controversy in the…
Can the way we think influence the way we feel? Most of us would say yes. But can thinking affect the way our bodies behave on a genetic level? Can we, in essence, think ourselves better? A growing band…
It’s well known that humans are living longer than ever before, thanks partially to developments such as sanitation and modern medicine. But will it ever be possible for humans to live forever? The late…
The two pieces of Commonwealth legislation strictly regulate research use of human embryos in Australia are currently being reviewed. The Australian public is overwhelmingly in favour of stem cell research…
A few days ago, Jonathan Latham of The Guardian newspaper decried the failure of modern genetics to make inroads on common diseases. I think he got things very wrong. Latham claimed that: Despite more…
Visiting Professor in Biomedical Ethics, Murdoch Children's Research Institute; Distinguished Visiting Professor in Law, University of Melbourne; Uehiro Chair in Practical Ethics, University of Oxford