Genetics in the News

AGTC provides headlines of tabloid and research articles that are relevant to our mission and on-line learning program.  It is not provided for the purposes of advice, just a taste of news items that may be of general interest to you.  If you want the full story from the source indicated, please contact us and we will email you the complete article.  Past or older articles can be found in the Archives section in the Resources menu.

Preconception & Prenatal

Fertility clock may affect men

Sydney Morning Herald March 22 2007

WHEN it comes to fertility and the prospect of having normal babies, it has always been assumed that men have no biological clock. But mounting evidence suggests that as men get older, they face an increased risk of fathering children with abnormalities 



Infertility

Marijuana use affects infertility treatments

Sydney Morning Herald April 27 2006

The likelihood of a good outcome of fertility treatment is reduced if either the man or the woman uses marijuana, the results of a new study suggest. If these findings are confirmed by additional research, it will be recommended physicians tell couples to not use marijuana for at least one year before starting fertility treatment.



Cancer

Genes may clear path to breast cancer test

Sydney Morning Herald May 28 2007

SCIENTISTS have discovered four new genes that increase the chance of developing breast cancer, raising hopes that a blood test to determine individual women's risk of the disease may be within sight. The genes - three of which are related to cell growth - go some way to explaining why breast cancer is about twice as common in the daughters and sisters of women who have the disease. Two other genes, BRCA1 and BRCA2, discovered a decade ago, confer an exceptionally high likelihood of breast cancer if they are affected by particular mutations, but they are implicated in only a minority of familial cases. 



General

Hormone replacement therapy linked to ovarian cancer

Sydney Morning Herald April 20 2007

HORMONE replacement therapy, a contested treatment for post-menopausal women already linked to breast cancer, is also associated with ovarian cancer, a study in The Lancet says. Women who had the therapy were on average 20 per cent more likely to develop and die from ovarian cancer compared with those who had never been on the treatment, the research found.