Infertility news | Breaking infertility news

News

Advertisers:

Swiss biotech Serono slumps on share sale plan

...Copyright �2006 MarketWatch, Inc.

Please see our Terms of Use.

MarketWatch, the MarketWatch logo, and BigCharts are registered trademarks of MarketWatch, Inc." Return to top of page Just Released!

— A Rising Tide for Global Equities By Fisher Investments The seemingly tired, old bull market advanced in the fourth quarter as strong fundamentals outweighed unenthusiastic sentiment.

For the year, global equities bested alternatives like...

Full Story Enter User Name Enter Password Remember me on this computer Sign In/Password help INVESTING TOOLS Enter Symbol Symbol lookup Help Quotes/News Stock Checkup� IBD� Charts Screen Of The Day

Serono Seeks Approval to Create Shares for Purchases (Update2)

...It has struggled to make the transition from copying human hormones to developing its own drugs.

Drugs Abandoned Serono generates three-quarters of its sales from the multiple-sclerosis medicine Rebif, which was first sold in 1998, and fertility drug Gonal-f, the first biological copy of a follicle-stimulating hormone, that was approved for sale in 1995.

The company has been buying products to revive growth and boost its pipeline.

It acquired rights to Genentech Inc.

and Xoma Ltd.'s psoriasis therapy Raptiva outside the U.S.

and Asia and experimental cancer drugs from companies including Genmab A/S and Rigel Pharmaceuticals Inc.

Some of the drugs the company bought as well as those it developed weren't successful.

It dropped the development of psoriasis treatment onercept and melanoma drug Canvaxin in April 2005 and The board may increase the company's authorized capital at once or in installments, Serono said.

The board will be in a position to determine the opportune timing and the optimal conditions for a share issue, the company said in its invitation to shareholders.

To contact the reporter on this story: Chantal Britt in Zurich at cbritt@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: March 31, 2006 02:12 EST �2006 Bloomberg L.P.

One big biology question solved

...The team, led by Dr Josephine Bowles and Professor Peter Koopman from the Institute for Molecular Bioscience at The University of Queensland, has discovered that derivatives of Vitamin A trigger the beginning of egg and sperm production, a process known as meiosis.

The cells that eventually turn into either eggs or sperm � known as germ cells � are identical in male and female embryos.

�Whether a germ cell develops into an egg or a sperm depends on the time at which meiosis begins,� Professor Koopman said.

�In females, meiosis begins before birth and eggs are produced, whereas in males, meiosis begins after birth and the result is sperm.� Professor Koopman and his team found that retinoic acid, a derivative of Vitamin A, causes germ cells in female embryos to begin meiosis, leading to the production of eggs.

They also discovered an enzyme present in male embryos that wipes out retinoic acid and so suppresses meiosis until after birth, resulting in sperm production.

�This is an extremely important process that nobody has been able to figure out until now,� Professor Koopman said.

�It is textbook science and it should provide the basis for a number of practical applications.� Knowledge of what triggers and suppresses meiosis may allow researchers to improve fertility, for example in the case of an infertile couple wanting a baby, or suppress it, in the case of pest management.

Professor Koopman also suggested that an ...

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 | 47 | 48 | 49 | 50 | 51 | 52 | 53 | 54 | 55 | 56 | 57 | 58 | 59 | 60 | 61 | 62 | 63 | 64 | 65 | 66 | 67 | 68 | 69 | 70 | 71 | 72 | 73 | 74 | 75 | 76 | 77 | 78 | 79 | 80 | 81 | 82 | 83 | 84 | 85 | 86 | 87 | 88 | 89 | 90 | 91 | 92 | 93 | 94 | 95 | 96 | 97 | 98 | 99 | All news