Three tertiary students describe their lives of learning
Jonathan Davis from Townsville in northern Qld won a Eureka Prize when he was 15 and talked about studying maths, philosophy and neurology at university! Well now he's at ANU in Canberra. We check in with Jonathan for a report on his progress.
Zofia Witkovsky-Blake was also 15 at her first appearance on The Science Show. Now in her early twenties, she's combining bioinformatics and statistics with entomology, dance and theatre! Oh, and she's a brilliant poet as well, as she demonstrates.
Jessie French is a young force behind Melbourne's Design Week now starting and she shows how other biological materials can replace the ubiquitous and harmful plastics that cover our civilisation and won't go away.
Guests
Zofia Witkovsky-Blake
Jonathan Davis
Jessie French
Presenter
Robyn Williams
Producer
David Fisher
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The IVF industry is under the microscope after Monash IVF apologised for a second embryo bungle. How rare is a mistake?
The IVF industry is under the microscope after major fertility provider Monash IVF apologised for a second embryo bungle. Days after the company told the stock market about the latest case, its chief executive officer resigned. It followed revelations in April that one of Monash IVF's Brisbane patients had been mistakenly implanted with another woman's embryo in 2023 and gave birth to a baby who had no genetic links to her later that year. An independent review is ongoing. Approximately 20,000 babies are born from IVF treatment in Australia every year, according to the Australian and New Zealand Assisted Reproduction Database. So, what is the process, what are the checks and balances, and how rare are such bungles? In vitro fertilisation — or IVF — is one of the most common assisted reproductive technology procedures (ART). The process involves collecting a donor or patient's eggs, then fertilising them with sperm in a Petri dish in a lab. A fertilised egg — known as an embryo — is then implanted into the woman's uterus. Fertility educator and IVF patient advocate Lucy Lines has previously worked as an embryologist — a scientist who specialises in developing embryos. She says whenever eggs, sperm or embryos are moved in the lab, the dishes and paperwork are all labelled with the patient's name, their ID number, and date of birth. In some labs, they are allocated a colour code as well, she says. "At minimum, there are three points of reference for each client inside the lab," she says. "So then when anything is moved from one dish or tube to another dish or tube, a second embryologist will come along and audibly repeat [the patient's name, date of birth, and the ID number]. "That is the historical way that it was done. 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ABC News
21 hours ago
- ABC News
BTN Newsbreak 13/06/2025
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ABC News
a day ago
- ABC News
Farm plastic waste recycling options a 'leap forward for sustainability'
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