Fetus in Biological News

Babies born to native high-altitude mothers have decreased risk of low birth weight

... women delivered more blood and oxygen to the fetus compared to women of European descent the ... flow, the greater the oxygen delivery to the fetus and the greater the baby's birth weight ... which dilates to increase blood flow to the fetus during pregnancy. The low-oxygen environment at ...

Microarray analysis improves prenatal diagnosis

... DNA. Half of the labeled DNA is from the fetus being tested and is labeled with one fluorescent ... from each binds to the DNA on the array. If the fetus has a DNA duplication, then the patient color on the array will be stronger. If the fetus has a deletion, the reference color will show up ...

Likely cause of postpartum blues and depression identified

... Unique biochemical crosstalk that enables a fetus to get nutrition and oxygen from its mother's ... exchange between the blood of mother and fetus is courtesy of the placenta regulating levels of ... would aggregate, vessels constrict and the fetus wouldn't get what it needs," says Dr. Prasad. An ...

Simple drug treatment may prevent nicotine-induced SIDS: Study

... According to researchers at McMaster University, exposure of the fetus to nicotine results in the inability to respond to decreases in ... excite themselves during this stressful time. However, exposure of the fetus to nicotine results in higher levels of this brake protein. "The ...

Alcohol binges early in pregnancy increase risk of infant oral clefts

... especially excessive amounts at one time, can adversely affect the fetus and may increase the risk of infant clefts." The causes of clefts are ... most. "The greater the blood alcohol concentration, the longer the fetus is exposed. A single binge during a critical period of an infant's ...

Radiation, nanotechnology, health care and more

... the lungs or appendicitis. To accurately assess the dose to mother and the fetus from CT exams, we developed a virtual CT scanner and used the previously ... dose data that can be generated can be used to assess the risk to the fetus and the mother, thus allowing better communication between the patient and ...

Deadly genetic disease prevented before birth in zebrafish

... of Sciences' advance online edition. The development of organs in the fetus is nearly complete at a very early stage. By that time, the mutation ... If we can make cells ignore the gibberish, or the splicing defect, the fetus can develop normally." Up to 20 percent of genetic diseases are caused ...

Brain malformations significantly associated with preterm birth, Wake Forest research shows

... birth, there may be blood clots coming from the placenta, causing brain damage and malformations in the brain and then, perhaps, the malformed fetus induces its own preterm birth or perhaps the coagulopathy causes the preterm birth through some other mechanism. The next step is to look at the ...

Bisphenol A exposure in pregnant mice permanently changes DNA of offspring

... offspring were not apparent in the offspring of mice that did not receive BPA injection (the controls). This finding demonstrates that the fetus is sensitive to BPA in mice and likely also in humans, Taylor said. "We don't know what a safe level of BPA is, so pregnant women should avoid BPA ...

Report updates guidelines on how much weight women should gain during pregnancy

... have the best health outcomes possible." Expectant mothers and their care providers need to balance the benefits of pregnancy weight gain for the fetus with the risks of too much or too little increase, which can result in consequences for both mothers and children. For mothers, the ramifications of ...

The evolutionary foundation of genomic imprinting in lower vertebrates

... a unique phenomenon of placental mammals and a regulatory mechanism to keep a balance of supply and demand for maternal nutrients between mother and fetus in mammalian species. However, how genomeic imprinting was originated, established and maintained during vertebrate evolution remains unclear. In ...

Compendium of pancreatic cancer biomarkers established as strategic approach to early-detection

... an accessible bodily fluid and therefore can be detected with ease and accuracy just like the protein biomarker that's made early on by a developing fetus and is exploited by at-home pregnancy tests. The "gold standard" pancreatic cancer biomarker would possess both high sensitivity and specificity ...

Men are the weaker sex

... restricted growth in utero and for breech presentation at birth, risks associated with boy fetuses were more abundant. "Pregnancies with a male fetus are more often complicated," says Prof. Glezerman. "They're more likely to result in a premature rupture of the embryonic sac and suffer from ...

Therapeutic cloning gets a boost with new research findings

... study's principal investigator, suggests a "bottleneck effect" is partially responsible for the observations his team recorded. "To create a cloned fetus by somatic cell nuclear transfer, only one adult somatic cell -- one donor cell -- is needed," he explains. "Because a random cell population ...

Synthesizing the most natural of all skin creams

... a skin fully equipped to protect it in a cold, dry and bacteria-infected world. A protective cream called Vernix caseosa (VC), which covers the fetus and the newborn, aids in the growth of skin both before and after birth. VC provides 'waterproofing' in utero, allowing skin to grow in wet ...

Molecule that suppresses immune response under study in type 1 diabetes

... time on this one," said Dr. Mellor. A team of MCG scientists led by Drs. Mellor and Munn showed in research published in Science in 1998 that the fetus expresses IDO to help avoid rejection by the mother's immune system. They also are exploring its therapeutic potential in transplantation and cancer. ...

Early whales gave birth on land

... and the find represents a new species dubbed Maiacetus inuus. (Maiacetus means "mother whale," and Inuus was a Roman fertility god.) The fetus is positioned for head-first delivery, like land mammals but unlike modern whales, indicating that these whales still gave birth on land. Another ...

Early whales gave birth on land, fossil find reveals

... Archaeoceti, and the find represents a new species dubbed Maiacetus inuus. (Maiacetus means "mother whale," and Inuus was a Roman fertility god.) The fetus is positioned for head-first delivery, like land mammals but unlike modern whales, indicating that these whales still gave birth on land. Another ...

JCI online early table of contents: Jan. 19, 2009

... this second offspring exhibited fewer signs of NAFLD. The team, led by Kevin Grove and Jacob Friedman, therefore suggests that a developing fetus is highly susceptible to maternal consumption of excess fat, whether or not the mother is obese, and that a healthy maternal diet is most important ...

Smoking during pregnancy may impair thyroid function of mom and fetus

... mothers and found that smoking-related changes in thyroid function extend to the fetus. Dr. Vaidya believes that impaired thyroid function in the fetus could have potentially harmful biological consequences. The study also found that in mothers who stopped smoking during pregnancy their thyroid ...

CSHL scientists discover a new way in which epigenetic information is inherited

... immunity from mother to child via the secretion of antibodies," he says, referring to the proteins that can cross the placenta and protect the fetus or get passed on to an infant via breast-milk. "We now have a way in which immunity (against sterility) is passed on from mother to child, in flies ...

Methylmercury warning

... causes of suboptimal and abnormal mental development are mostly unknown. However, severe exposure to pollutants during the development of the growing fetus can cause problems that become apparent as brain functions develop - and ultimately decline - in later life. Critically, much smaller doses of ...

Statins may prevent miscarriages

... expressed on the surface of certain white blood cells called neutrophils. This spurs the neutrophils into action, they attack the placenta, and the fetus dies. While investigators had unveiled this basic chain of events, they didn't know any further details about the mechanism. To find out, Dr. ...

Clue to genetic cause of fatal birth defect

... cancer. Recent research has shown that the HSD17b7 enzyme has an additional role in the last steps of cholesterol biosynthesis. But because the fetus receives cholesterol from the mother during gestation, Gibori and her colleagues did not expect the enzyme to be of much importance to development, ...

New blood test for Down syndrome

... After all, he observed, the point of screening was to spot extra chromosomes in the woman's blood sample. Whether the DNA being scanned was from the fetus or from the mother didn't matter. The objective, therefore, was simply to measure the amount of DNA in fragments mapped to the different chromosomes. ...

Low sperm count may be associated with prenatal testosterone excess

... during fetal life," said Professor Sergio Recabarren of the University of Concepcion in Chillan, Chile and lead author of the study. "A developing fetus is very vulnerable to its environment, and when that environment is exposed to excess sexual steroids, it may have a significant deleterious effect ...

Virus weaves itself into the DNA transferred from parents to babies

... problems. Some congenital infections can cause serious problems in fetuses. If a mother contracts cytomegalovirus (CMV) while pregnant, her fetus is at risk of hearing or vision loss, developmental disabilities and problems with the lungs, liver and spleen. Some of those health problems don't ...

Trends in prescription medication sharing among reproductive-aged women

... resistance, and risk of addiction. Of great importance for reproductive-aged women is the risk of teratogenic effects on a developing embryo or fetus if the women were to become pregnant while taking the medication. "This study confirms what many health care providers suspect," says Susan G. ...

Alcohol consumption can cause too much cell death, fetal abnormalities

... at least, is gone," says Dr. Erhard Bieberich, biochemist in the Medical College of Georgia Schools of Medicine and Graduate Studies. "But, your fetus may have experienced irreversible damage." He thinks the damage results from the death of neural crest cells, versatile cells that travel a lot ...

September 2008 Biology of Reproduction highlights

... development of the placenta and fetus. These findings are important with respect to the possible transplacental transfer of pollutants from mother to fetus as well as fetal programming and developmental origins of health and disease in adults. Mariana Matera Veras, Nilsa Regina Damaceno-Rodrigues, ...

Domoic acid from toxic algal blooms may cause seizures in California sea lions

... which normally protects and aids in the growth of a fetus. In sea lions exposed to domoic acid, the fluid retains the toxin, thus subjecting the fetus to repeated direct absorption through immature skin cells and swallowing during gestation. The results, demonstrated experimentally in laboratory ...

A new gene trigger for pregnancy disorder identified

... of Matrix Biology at BIDMC and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. As a result, during the first trimester of pregnancy, when the fetus is undergoing rapid development, hypoxia levels are high. As the pregnancy progresses, hypoxia levels should naturally come down as fetal blood ...

Study shows mercury levels from products decreasing, though still at dangerous levels

... of the different sources of mercury release. Release of mercury to the environment is a serious problem and can harm the development of a fetus if the mother is exposed to high levels. Mercury also frequently accumulates in fish populations. A number of highly-used products release mercury ...

Reflecting on the social implications of human genetics research -- past, present and future

... individual, not state-sponsored form, writes Matt Ridley in the Foreword to the book. People can choose the sex of their child, or choose to abort a fetus with a certain disability, or select an embryo without a detected defect or disability. The essays by the academics remind us of what we learned ...

Evolution of the sexes: What a fungus can tell us

... through an unknown process. This protein is very similar to one encoded by the human Y chromosome, called SRY, that when turned on leads a developing fetus to exhibit male characteristics. Heitman said this similarity suggests that HMG-domain proteins may mark the evolutionary beginnings of sex ...

Safer, more accurate radiation therapy for expecting mothers

... of pregnant females at various gestational stages: three months, six months, and nine months. The team built the models of the expecting mother and fetus organ by organ, relying on computer-generated mesh models, as well as supplanting the model with data from rare CT scan images of a pregnant ....

USC researchers explore genetic causes for male infertility

... is particularly important because recent animal studies have suggested that epigenetics may have broader implications. Exposures to chemicals as a fetus may lead to adult diseases. Perhaps such exposures may be causing the changes in the sperm DNA that we have identified. Studies to uncover a ...

Study identifies warning signs of pregnancy danger

... to 8 percent of pregnancies. The exact cause is not known. Severe forms of these conditions can play a role in perinatal developmental issues of the fetus or even death for both the mother and fetus. The perinatal period is defined as the time of birth (five months before and one month after). Women ...

PET/MRI scans may help unravel mechanisms of prenatal drug damage

... drugs are transferred between a mother and her fetus during pregnancy may help us unravel the ... mother transferring the pain medication to the fetus via the placenta. But we actually do not know if ... cocaine uptake and distribution in the mother and fetus simultaneously," she added. The animals were ...