Scientists document complex genomic events leading to the birth of new genes
A team of scientists led by Peer Bork, Ph.D., Senior Bioinformatics Scientist at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory, report today in the journal Genome Research that they have identified a new primate-specific gene family that spans about 10% of human chromosome 2. Comprised of eight family members, the RGP gene cluster may help to explain what sets apart humans and other primates from the...Breast-Cancer Risk Linked to Exposure to Traffic Emissions at Menarche, First Birth
Exposure to carcinogens in traffic emissions at particular lifetime points may increase the risk of developing breast cancer in women who are lifetime nonsmokers, a study by epidemiologists and geographers at the University at Buffalo has found. Their study was conducted among women who lived in Erie and Niagara counties of New York State between 1996 and 2001. They found that higher expo...One hit of crystal meth causes birth defects
A single prenatal dose of methamphetamine ?commonly known as speed ?may be enough to cause long-term neurodevelopmental problems in babies, say University of Toronto researchers. In research published in the August issue of Free Radical Biology and Medicine, U of T pharmacy and pharmacology professor Peter Wells and his colleagues determined that exposing pregnant mice only once to methamp...Micro-molecule plays big role in birth defects
University of Florida researchers have learned how to selectively shut down a flyweight-sized genetic molecule that packs a heavyweight punch, a discovery that may help doctors better understand cancer, birth defects and other health problems. The finding, which will be reported this week in the online Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, deals with tiny strands of genetic mate...Most embryos produced during IVF do not result in live births
Researchers at Yale School of Medicine have found that 85 percent of embryos transferred during in vitro fertilization fail to become live births, highlighting the need for improving diagnostic techniques to identify viable embryos. Published in the August issue of Fertility and Sterility, the study reviewed seven years of U.S. statistics from all the fertility clinics that report data on...The birth of biotech: San Francisco, Boston, Geneva or Chicago?
CHICAGO To start off our day, heres a pop biotech quiz to see if you know your biotech history and trivia: While Im willing to bet that most of you will get at least three of the six companies right in the first question,...Young Professionals of Milwaukee Celebrates Its Third Birthday, Looks To The Future
threw an elaborate par...And now live birth on the internet.com?
A hospital in Singapore has given birth to a new idea. Anxious parents and relatives can actually see their little ones at the hospital on the net. And this comes with live audio and video feed. Imagine being busy at your office and still being able to see your kid at the hospital bed at the same time! Sounds cool? Singapore’s Thomson medical center website gives parents passwords that c...Birth weight key factor in heart diseases
Sluggish growth in the first year of a boy's life greatly increases the risk of heart diseases as an adult, according to a study of Finnish children. The key factor in heart disease is not how much you weigh now, but how you grew in the past. It's long been known that babies with a low birth weight are roughly twice as susceptible to coronary heart disease in adulthood as heavier babi...FDA Approves Birth Control Skin Patch
For the first time, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a contraceptive skin patch for weekly use. Ortho Evra, made by New Jersey-based Johnson & Johnson, is a one-and-three-quarter-inch patch containing the hormones norelgestromin and ethinyl estradiol, designed to be an alternative to birth control pills. // The patch delivers the hormones through the skin for a 1...IVF technique May Increase The Risk Of Birth Defects
The commonly used in vitro fertilisation (IVF) technique intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) may increase the risk of babies being born with abnormalities such as ambiguous genitalia. Researchers from the Pasteur Institute in Paris, France, say that men whose infertility is genetic are likely to have other, more serious genetic faults that can be passed on when spermatozoa are injected direct...Smoking Linked To Low Infant Birth Weight
Women who smoke during pregnancy are more likely to bear an underweight child, but some women may carry a higher risk than others because of genetic susceptibility.// The finding could help medicine better determine the causes of low birth weight, though the researchers said they were not recommending at this point that women be screened for presence of the genes involved. "Our data d...