malformation in Biological News

Study rules out inbreeding as cause of amphibian deformities

... finds it plays no part in the high incidence of malformation among salamanders. Purdue University ... to fingers and toes). That is double the rate of malformation found in newts, a related amphibian, but on par ... in inbred individuals. High rates of amphibian malformation concern scientists not only because they threaten ...

ICSI or IVF: Babies born from frozen embryos do just as well

... ages and birth weights were similar between the two groups, but the malformation rate was 2.2% from the medicated cycles and 0.4% from the natural cycles. ... on the neonatal outcome of the cryopreserved embryos; the difference in malformation rates was small. "The original premise of the study was to identify a ...

Statins may treat blood vessel disorder that can lead to fatal strokes

... statins could provide a safe, inexpensive treatment for cerebral cavernous malformation (CCM), a disorder with no known drug therapy, according to U of U ... Lee of the Angioma Alliance, "Cavernous angioma or cerebral cavernous malformation is a common but little known illness that can strike with devastating ...

USC researchers identify alternate pathway that leads to palate development

... have a cleft palate. But genes are not the only factor influencing the malformation says, Yang Chai, professor and director of the USC School of Dentistry's ... in the TGF- gene or its cell surface receptors sparked palate malformation in experimental mouse models, knocking out the Smad4 genes would do the ...

Embryo biopsy does not affect early growth and risk of congenital malformations in PGD/PGS babies

... numbers to draw firm conclusions about any differences in major malformation rates. Two PGD/PGS children, one ICSI child and two SC children had major ... (a heart problem) and another child had hemivertebrae with gibbus (a malformation of the vertebrae causing a hump). One child from the ICSI group born at 39 ...

Rutgers research tackles childhood epilepsy

... the researchers are investigating the molecular basis of the disease. The article describes the first use of a mouse model of cortical dysplasia, a malformation of the brain that is most often the cause of childhood epilepsy. Introducing the drug rapamycin, originally used to prevent rejection in organ ...

Bone deformities linked to inbreeding in Isle Royale wolves

... is supported in part by the National Science Foundation The scientists found that 58 percent of the wolves on Isle Royale exhibit a congenital malformation in the lumbosacral region or lower back, and 33 percent display a specific deformitylumbosacral transitional vertebraewhich can cause full or partial ...

Pregnant women with asthma can be more confident about some medicines

... in medical journals sometimes lead to worrying media reports. Some recent reports in Germany even wrongly suggested that asthma drugs could cause a malformation rate of almost 10%," according to the Institute's Director, Professor Peter Sawicki. Essential medicines are generally not researched enough in ...

Jupiter's shrinking red spot

... EMBRYONIC HEART DEVELOPMENT Congenital heart diseases affect one percent of newborn babies and babies who are lost in the prenatal period, and the malformation of the circulatory system is responsible for 10 percent of stillbirths. To give scientists new insight into the developing heart, math biologist ...

Animal and biological science highlights: San Antonio Fluid Dynamics Conference, Nov. 23-25

... EMBRYONIC HEART DEVELOPMENT Congenital heart diseases affect one percent of newborn babies and babies who are lost in the prenatal period, and the malformation of the circulatory system is responsible for 10 percent of stillbirths. To give scientists new insight into the developing heart, math biologist ...

Clue to genetic cause of fatal birth defect

... each year. Most do not survive more than a day or two. Although anencephaly can sometimes be diagnosed through ultrasound, which picks up the malformation of the head, there is no genetic test, and its cause is unknown. By breeding special "knockout" mice that were missing the gene for the enzyme ...

Weill Cornell science briefs June/July 2008

... blood disorder) blocks the activity of the JAK2 gene that is highly expressed in Cooley's anemia, and is believed to play a crucial role in the malformation of red blood cells. Learn more at: http://news.med.cornell.edu/wcmc/wcmc_2008/05_22_08.shtml Striking at the Heart of Hepatitis B ...

Avoiding Spleen Removal for Cooley's Anemia SufferersAvoiding spleen removal for Cooley's anemia suf

... blood disorder) blocks the activity of the JAK2 gene that is highly expressed in Cooley's anemia, and is believed to play a crucial role in the malformation of red blood cells. Disease Background Mutations in the beta globin gene can lead to thalassemia or sickle-cell anemia. Thalassemia and ...

Early exposure to common weed killer impairs amphibian development

... abnormal, apoptosis. "The increased levels of apoptosis in the midbrain and pronephric kidney we observe suggest that atrazine may cause tissue malformation by inducing ectopic programmed cell death, either directly or indirectly through a mechanism that has not been identified," wrote the researchers. ...

Immunosuppressant further linked to birth defects

... The authors suggest that the pattern of defects seen with MMF establishes a possible link between use of this drug during pregnancy and a specific malformation pattern in structures derived from the frontal-nasal prominence (which develops into the forehead, nose, upper lip and palate) and the first ...

New hereditary breast cancer gene discovered

... they can cause breast cancer. The discovery also makes it possible to uncover breast cancer in women who have a predisposition for Saethre-Chotzen malformation syndrome," says Göran Stenman. By detailed mapping of families with Saethre-Chotzen syndrome, the Göteborg scientists have now found that women ...

Matrilin-3 gene discovered to prevent onset of osteoarthritis

... hand osteoarthritis, as well as skeletal disorders such as multiple epiphyseal dysplasia (MED), a disorder that begins in childhood and can include malformation of the hands, feet and knees and abnormal curvature of the spine. In this study, researchers knocked out matrilin-1 and -3 in mice in order to ...

Cholesterol gets 'thumbs up' for role in digit development

... Sonic hedgehog signaling are involved in a number of other human conditions including cancer and a condition known as holoprosencephaly, a congenital malformation of the forebrain. Chiang is currently examining the role of cholesterol-modified Sonic hedgehog in the developing brain and spinal cord. "We ...

UCSD study finds anthrax toxins also harmful to fruit flies

... healing, which is mediated by the same signaling pathway in humans. The EF toxin is also lethal when applied to fly larvae and can cause severe malformation in the wings of adult fruit flies--an effect that can also be understood as an interruption of another unrelated signaling process common to flies ...

Cells from amniotic fluid used to tissue-engineer a new trachea

... a precious resource that's thrown out now, but shouldn't be." Less than two tablespoons of amniotic fluid provide enough fetal cells to repair a malformation in utero or after birth potentially, even years later, Fauza says. He envisions a future in which amniotic fluid is banked for everyone's use. ...