Status of the human body > Embryos

Spinal muscular atrophy: promising treatment administered for the first time to foetuses during pregnancy

Author / Source : EIB Published on : 14/04/2025 Thematic : Status of the human body / Embryos News Temps de lecture : 1 min.

For the first time, the Food and Drug Administration has authorised a clinical protocol for in utero treatment on a foetus diagnosed with type 1 spinal muscular atrophy, which in its most severe forms limits life expectancy to 2 years. The results published in February 2025 in the New England Journal of Medicine suggest new avenues for the prenatal treatment of this disease. This disease is caused by a mutation of the SMN1 gene (for Survival Motor Neuron) which causes severe and progressive...

Cryopreservation of embryos: Study highlights ethical issues involved in their preservation and inevitable destruction

Author / Source : EIB Published on : 25/09/2024 Thematic : Status of the human body / Embryos News Temps de lecture : 2 min.

According to a study published last June, the number of human embryos cryopreserved following artificial reproduction has reached a record level in the UK. Published in The New Bioethics, the study analysed data provided by the UK Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) between 1991 and 2019. The figures show that at least 130,000 stored embryos have been destroyed in the UK since 1991. This situation, already problematic in itself, is particularly so in the UK, where legislation...