Embryology News and Research

RSS

Embryology is the study of the development of an embryo. An embryo is defined as any organism in an early stage well before birth or hatching, or in plants, before germination occurs.

Adult stem cells lack key pluripotency regulator

The protein Oct4 plays a major role in embryonic stem cells, acting as a master regulator of the genes that keep the cells in an undifferentiated state.

10 Oct 2007

Link between woman's hips and daughter's risk of breast cancer

In a study of the maternity records of more than 6,000 women, David J.P. Barker, M.D., Ph.D., and Kent Thornburg, Ph.D., of Oregon Health & Science University discovered a strong correlation between the size and shape of a woman's hips and her daughter's risk of breast cancer.

9 Oct 2007

Mario Capecchi shares Nobel Prize in medicine for knockout mice technology

Mario R. Capecchi, Ph.D., distinguished professor of human genetics and biology at the University of Utah's Eccles Institute of Human Genetics and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator, has won the 2007 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

9 Oct 2007

Sir Martin Evans wins Nobel prize for stem cell research

Medical Research Council funded scientist Sir Martin Evans, has been awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for 2007 alongside Mario R. Capecchi and Oliver Smithies for their discoveries of "principles for introducing specific gene modifications in mice by the use of embryonic stem cells".

9 Oct 2007

Discovery offers hope of halting motor neurone disease progression

Scientists have discovered a causal link between the gene for a small protein involved in the formation of blood vessels and the development of some forms of motor neurone disease.

4 Oct 2007

The origin of mammalian network of lymphatic vessels

Investigators at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital settled a century-old debate on the origin of the mammalian lymphatic vasculature - the network of vessels and capillaries critical to various essential housekeeping functions in the body.

4 Oct 2007

In vitro fertilization technique enables pregnancy without multiple births

An in vitro fertilization technique that can avoid multiple births appears to be effective for women older than 35, according to researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine.

2 Oct 2007

Scientists study folding of the brain's cortex

Engineers at Washington University in St. Louis are finding common ground between the shaping of the brain and the heart during embryonic development.

2 Oct 2007

The jury is in: microRNAs can cause tumors to metastasize

These tiny molecules fine-tune protein production and play a powerful role in biological processes ranging from development to aging. Now scientists have proved that they can prompt otherwise sedentary cancer cells to move and invade other tissues.

27 Sep 2007

Trop-2 new target for anti-tumour therapy in cancer

Italian scientists announced (Monday September 24) that they have found a new and promising target for anti-tumour therapy in cancer.

25 Sep 2007

Modulating fat levels essential for successful pregnancy

New data, generated in mice by Richard Proia and colleagues at the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, provides a potential reason for early pregnancy loss in humans.

21 Sep 2007

JAK genes and cancer

Cancer-causing genes can work in more powerful and sneaky ways than have been realized.

18 Sep 2007

Zebrafish shed light on human mitochondrial diseases

Zebrafish can now be used to study COX deficiencies in humans, a discovery that gives scientists an unprecedented window to view the earliest stages of mitochondrial impairments that lead to potentially fatal metabolic disorders, according to researchers at the University of Oregon.

13 Sep 2007

Women undergoing IVF to donate eggs for stem cell research in return for reduced treatment costs

The Medical Research Council (MRC) is to fund a research proposal from a team at the North East England Stem Cell Institute (NESCI) for a project to find ways of improving the efficiency of therapeutic cloning - a technique which would allow scientists to create patient-specific stem cells and develop regenerative therapies for many debilitating conditions such as diabetes, heart disease and Parkinson’s disease.

13 Sep 2007

Living, growing artificial heart-valve replacements for children

Infants and children receiving artificial heart-valve replacements face several repeat operations as they grow, since the since the replacements become too small and must be traded for bigger ones.

13 Sep 2007

Link between nicotine and atherosclerosis

It's well known that smoking cigarettes increases risk for a host of serious health problems from cancer to heart disease. Now a new study from Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City looks at how they do their dirty work by contributing to atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries. The evidence points to nicotine, the addictive chemical in cigarettes.

11 Sep 2007

Metformin could potentially improve pregnancy outcomes in women with insulin resistance

Women who are obese, have type 2 diabetes or a family history of type 2 diabetes could one day have more successful pregnancies because of a study at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

10 Sep 2007

Equine flu highlights issue of biosecurity

Not long before the equine flu outbreak, Dr Phil McManus from the University of Sydney School of Geosciences sent out an Australia-wide questionnaire to thoroughbred horse breeders. He asked them what they thought was the biggest threat to their industry.

5 Sep 2007

Academic comments on horse flu scare

We should not be shocked that equine influenza has emerged in Australia. What is surprising is that we kept it out for so long. The Australian thoroughbred breeding and racing industry has received huge financial benefits from globalisation, but this process carries enormous risks. Foremost is the risk of disease.

28 Aug 2007