Uncomfortable questions about aviation security must be answeredIt is time for those who fouled up over Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab's bomb attempt to be called to account. By David MillwardComments 10 | Comment on this articleIt has been a pretty miserable festive season for Transport ministers who have shouldered the burden for another difficult Christmas getaway and now stand accused of being "late on the curve" when it comes to aviation security. In fairness the criticism aimed at our Government over its handling over whether to introduce full body scanners, has enabled others with greater culpability to avoid scrutiny. The authorities in Nigeria and the Netherlands have somehow turned their incompetence into a public relations coup while our Government appears hapless and hopeless, both produced a slew of these scanners like a rabbit out of a hat. But there are some uncomfortable questions to be answered. If the Dutch had these scanners at Schiphol on trial, why were they not deployed at the gates handling transatlantic flights? After nigh on every attempt at bringing down aircraft has been aimed at flights to the USA, it would not have been rocket science to have deployed the scanners on these routes. The Nigerians, meanwhile, seem to be trying to shift the blame to Ghana insisting that Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab only spent 27 minutes in Lagos. Louise Ellman, the Labour chairman of the Transport Select Committee at Westminster, was quite right in saying that it was unacceptable for passengers and airline staff to deal with a terrorist because of lapses in security. Perhaps it is time for those who did foul up were called to account. Touch wood - and I say this as a frequent traveller to the USA - our airport security has been very good even if the Government's handling of the fallout from the latest has been less than sure-footed.    

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   Scientists discover link between older dads and genetic diseasesMark Henderson Recommend? (5) Scientists have moved a step closer to understanding why older fathers are more likely to have children with certain genetic diseases. They have discovered a surprising genetic link between the formation of benign testicular tumours called spermocytic seminomas and several rare growth disorders, which are more common among the children of older fathers. The abnormal testicular cells that form these rare tumours also produce sperm carrying mutant genes that cause serious inherited diseases, research at the University of Oxford and Copenhagen University Hospital in Denmark has shown. The findings offer important new insights into the origin of several rare genetic disorders, including a cause of dwarfism called achondroplasia, and also promise to illuminate more common conditions such as autism, schizophrenia and breast cancer. Related LinksGenetic disease patients may lose privacy rights Genetic test will detect defects in embryos All three of these are known to be affected by genetics, and to be more prevalent among the children of older fathers, but few of the DNA mutations responsible have yet been identified. Scientists behind the research believe that abnormal testicular cells of the sort that develop into tumours could be partially responsible. Professor Andrew Wilkie, of the University of Oxford, who led the research, said: “What we have seen so far may just be the tip of a large iceberg of mildly harmful mutations being introduced into our genome. These mutations would be too weak and too rare to be picked up by our current technology, but their sheer number would have a cumulative effect, leading to disease. “It may be that process we have identified might contribute to part of the excess risk for older fathers to have children with higher risks of, for example, breast cancer, schizophrenia, or autism. We have no direct evidence for this as yet.” Details of the research are published in the journal Nature Genetics . Professor Wilkie’s team, which is funded by the Wellcome Trust, is now planning further research to investigate whether testicular abnormalities might be linked to conditions such as autism and schizophrenia. Spermatocytic seminomas are rare tumours of the testes, almost always benign, which affect about one in 100,000 men. They are caused by the accumulation of genetic mutations in testicular cells, which can sometimes then divide to trigger tumours. “We think most men develop these tiny clumps of mutant cells in their testicles as they age,” Professor Wilkie said. “They are rather like moles in the skin, usually harmless in themselves. But by being located in the testicle, they also make sperm - causing children to be born with a variety of serious conditions.” The new study, has identified genetic mutations of the sort that cause achondroplasia and other rare inherited conditions in cells from spermatocytic seminomas. It appears that these mutations help the tumour cells to divide, but cause abnormal growth when transmitted to…