Art: Boon or bane?

Abstract

In 1978, the birth of the first baby through in vitro fertilization resulted in an explosion of new techniques that are now widely used in reproductive medicine and biology around the world. With these advances have also come many concerns for the safety of these techniques. In addition, even newer technologies are on the horizon, such as cloning and the production/use of stem cells. The 18th annual meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE), held in Vienna from 30 June to 3 July 2002, provided a forum for discussion of these and other relevant topics.