Birth Defects News and Research

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Zika infection affects fetal retinal development during pregnancy but not after birth

While the SARS-CoV-2 virus has dominated the news this past year, researchers continue to study the health effects of the Zika virus, which has been reported in 86 countries globally.

18 Dec 2020

Networks of genes involved in congenital heart disease revealed

Over two million babies, children, and adults in the United States are living with congenital heart disease--a range of birth defects affecting the heart's structure or function.

14 Dec 2020

Scientists identify two drug candidates that counteract deficiencies caused by lack of MECP2 gene

Most autism spectrum disorders have a complex, multifactorial genetic component, making it difficult to find specific treatments. Rett syndrome is an exception.

9 Dec 2020

Mine ponds increase risk of mercury exposure for indigenous communities and wildlife

The proliferation of pits and ponds created in recent years by miners digging for small deposits of alluvial gold in Peru's Amazon has dramatically altered the landscape and increased the risk of mercury exposure for indigenous communities and wildlife, a new study shows.

27 Nov 2020

Women with interstitial lung disease may not need to terminate their pregnancies

A new study shows that women with interstitial lung disease (ILD) related to autoimmune disease may not need to terminate their pregnancies--despite the increased risk of adverse outcomes--provided they have close monitoring from their team of multidisciplinary physicians before, during and after pregnancy.

6 Nov 2020

Insulin has met an evolutionary cul-de-sac making most people vulnerable to Type 2 diabetes

Scientists have found that insulin has met an evolutionary cul-de-sac, limiting its ability to adapt to obesity and thereby rendering most people vulnerable to Type 2 diabetes.

5 Nov 2020

Analysis reveals how artificial intelligence has been used to help pregnant women

Researchers from the University of Seville have carried out a rigorous and detailed analysis of how artificial intelligence has been used with pregnant women over the last twelve years.

4 Nov 2020

UConn researcher identifies genes and regulatory elements critical to heart development

The advent of genome science has given researchers an unprecedented ability to understand the root causes of a host of conditions.

3 Nov 2020

Antiseizure drug use during pregnancy linked with double the risk of having children with autism

Women with epilepsy who take the antiseizure drug valproic acid while pregnant are at more than double the risk of having children with autism spectrum disorder and nearly double the risk of having children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), according to a study in the October 28, 2020, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

28 Oct 2020

NIH grants 4D Nucleome award to support research by Gladstone scientists

The National Institutes of Health has granted a 4D Nucleome award to support research by a group of scientists at Gladstone Institutes led by Benoit Bruneau, PhD, and Katie Pollard, PhD.

15 Oct 2020

Small molecule restores normal heart development in animal model with rare genetic disorder

A research team at the Greenwood Genetic Center has successfully used small molecules to restore normal heart and valve development in an animal model for Mucolipidosis II (ML II), a rare genetic disorder. Progressive heart disease is commonly associated with ML II.

15 Oct 2020

Scientists engineer tissue grafts for personalized joint replacement

The temporomandibular joint (TMJ), which forms the back portion of the lower jaw and connects your jaw to your skull, is an anatomically complex and highly loaded structure consisting of cartilage and bone.

14 Oct 2020

Study reveals how ovaries maintain a female's fertility

Recently published work from Carnegie's Allan Spradling and Wanbao Niu revealed in unprecedented detail the genetic instructions immature egg cells go through step by step as they mature into functionality.

9 Oct 2020

Cardiac arrhythmias linked to functional and structural consequences of gene mutations

Life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias can be linked to the functional and structural consequences of gene mutations. The study is published in the peer-reviewed journal Bioelectricity.

29 Sep 2020

Study shows how Zika virus degrades key protein involved in neurological growth

In a study published in Autophagy, researchers at the University of Maryland (UMD) shed new light on how Zika virus hijacks our own cellular machinery to break down a protein that is essential for neurological development and cellular communication, getting it to "eat itself."

29 Sep 2020

New tool helps to find out toxins lurking in drinking water

Exposure to hydraulic fracturing fluid in drinking water has been shown to increase the risk of respiratory problems, premature births, congenital heart defects, and other medical problems. But not all wells are created equal.

23 Sep 2020

Infants born to women with COVID-19 show few adverse outcomes

Infants born to women with COVID-19 showed few adverse outcomes, according to the first report in the country of infant outcomes through eight weeks of age.

23 Sep 2020

Scientists identify new genetic cause of syndromic microcephaly

Greenwood Genetic Center researchers, in collaboration with scientists from Belgium, Spain, and Italy, have confirmed that variants in LMNB1 cause syndromic microcephaly with variable short stature, intellectual disability, and other neurological symptoms.

17 Sep 2020

Viruses play a key evolutionary role in mammals' ability to reproduce and survive

As the world scrambles to control the growing COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, new research in Nature Structural & Molecular Biology shows viruses also play a key evolutionary role in mammals' ability to reproduce and survive.

7 Sep 2020

Two discoveries can lead to a new wave of more-complex organoid development

In back-to-back reports published Aug. 27, 2020, in Nature Communications, a team of scientists from Cincinnati Children's and Japan report discoveries that will be vital to a new wave of more-complex organoid development.

27 Aug 2020