‘Editing’ technique can rewrite genes

Scientists at a company in California have developed a potentially revolutionary technique to permanently rewrite any gene in the human body, offering hope of a cure to many with inherited diseases.

Catholics warned of Nazi eugenics trend

Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, leader of the Roman Catholic church in England and Wales, renewed his attack on the abortion laws and embryo research yesterday in an Easter sermon.

Ethics row as choosing baby’s sex splits MPs

A controversial report, which favours allowing parents to choose the sex of their child and rethinking the cloning ban, is published today by a committee of MPs split down the middle over the needs of science and the ethics of embryo research.

MPs say lift ban on reproductive human cloning

The creation of a half-man/half-animal may be thought to be the stuff of science fiction, but this week MPs will recommend that the government overturns its ban on such experiments.

From the cells up

Engineers of the future will swap their computers and spanners for viruses and DNA. Alok Jha introduces a brand-new science: biological engineering.