The work on the mouse genome, carried out by the Mouse Genome Sequencing Consortium, was published in Nature. read more

The GM science review was launched by the Government amidst encouragements for both scientists and members of the public to take part via the website, and a series of meetings across the country. read more

This week the Nuffield Council on Bioethics published their report on ‘Genes and Human Behaviour’ to tackle the contentious ethical issues in this area of research. The report concentrates the influence which genes have on ‘normal’ behaviour, rather than on specific diseases. read more

The comments follow the announcement, published in both Nature and Science, that the genomes of both the malaria parasite and the mosquito have been sequenced, raising hopes for the eventual development of a cure for malaria. read more

The report was published following the ‘MMR: Learning Lessons’ meeting, which was hosted by the Science Media Centre in May 2002. read more

The Agriculture and Environment Biotechnology Commision (AEBC) published its report “Animals and Biotechnology”, calling for new ground rules for GM and cloned animals in agriculture. read more

PPL Theraputics, the company behind Dolly the Sheep, has successfully cloned the world’s first ‘double knock-out’ pigs. The animals were genetically altered to prevent human rejection of transplanted pig organs. This research has huge implications for cloning, ‘xenotransplantation’ (organ transplants from animals to humans) and research ethics. read more

The Science Media Centre asked experts to comment on the release of the House of Lords’ Select Committee report on the use of animals in scientific procedures. read more

The report published by the Nuffield Council on Bioethics, recommends a number of significant changes to the way that DNA patents are granted, and proposed that patents involving DNA sequences be allowed only in exceptional circumstances. read more

Gordon Brown has announced that science education and research will receive a huge boost in government funding. The money will go to refurbishing old laboratories, improving the salaries of junior university scientists, and helping universities to profit from their discoveries. read more

These comments follow the publication of a report into science education by the House of Commons’ Science and Technology Committee, which includes scathing criticism for the GCSE science curricula. read more

The research, published online by Nature, found that adult stem cells could behave more like embryonic stem cells, and that embryonic cells offered a potential route for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease. read more

The article was published in Clinical Evidence, a journal from the BMJ publishing Group, is the most comprehensive review of MMR to date, and shows that there is no scientific evidence linking the MMR vaccine to bowel disease or autism. read more

These comments follow the screening of the new BBC drama ‘Fields of Gold’, written by Ronan Bennett and Alan Rusbridger (Editor of The Guardian), at the Science Media Centre. read more

These follow the Government announcement that there should be a full and informed debate of GM issues, including GM crops. read more

In a speech at the Royal Society, Tony Blair called for an end to the suspicion and mistrust that sometimes surrounds the work of scientists, and highlighted the need for “a robust, engaged dialogue with the public”. read more

The Prime Minister, Tony Blair, is due to speak out against the “anti-science fashion” that is growing in the UK. read more

The 100-page investigation into GM and cloned animals called for an independent inquiry into the use of these animals in medical research, claiming that inadequate controls are causing untold suffering to these animals. read more

Scientists have once again been forced to respond to claims by controversial Italian fertility expert Severino Antinori that human reproductive cloning is already taking place. Following media reports last week that one of his own patients is expecting a cloned child, Antinori has now used an Italian chat show to claim that three other woman are pregnant with cloned babies. read more

The report by Mexican government scientists, presented at the Convention on Biological Diversity in The Hague, suggested that genes from USA GM maize had crossed the Mexican border, polluting non-GM maize grown there. read more