In Utero News and Research

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Research on twins indicates strong genetic influences in COVID-19

A new study discusses the strong possibility of multifactorial causation for SARS-CoV-2 infection using data from twin studies.

6 Oct 2021

COVID-19 infection during pregnancy increases risk of developing pre-eclampsia, study finds

A newly published study found that women who contract COVID-19 during pregnancy are at significantly higher risk of developing pre-eclampsia, the leading cause of maternal and infant death worldwide.

22 Sep 2021

Children with CZS-associated microcephaly show severe neurodevelopmental impairments

At age two, children who were born with neurological abnormalities due to congenital Zika Virus (ZIKV) have a range of neurodevelopmental profiles that can be tracked using a routine neurological assessment, according to a new study published this week in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Dr. Albert Ko of Yale University, US and Dr. Federico Costa of The Federal University of Bahia, Brazil, and their colleagues.

15 Sep 2021

Maternal obesity during pregnancy may heighten the risk of colorectal cancer in adult offspring

Infants whose mothers were obese during pregnancy may have a heightened risk of developing colorectal cancer later in life, according to new research led by public health experts at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.

27 Aug 2021

Mild maternal infections can have permanent impacts on offspring immunity

During pregnancy, mild infections in the mother can have permanent and tissue-specific impacts on offspring immunity, according to a new study in mice.

27 Aug 2021

Report reveals rising rates of diabetes among youth in the United States

Diagnosed cases of type 1 and type 2 diabetes are surging among youth in the United States. From 2001 to 2017, the number of people under age 20 living with type 1 diabetes increased by 45%, and the number living with type 2 diabetes grew by 95%.

24 Aug 2021

Maternal obesity may raise the risk of bowel cancer in adult offspring

An obese mum-to-be may be raising the risk of bowel cancer in her adult children, suggests research of more than 18,000 mother and child pairs, published online in the journal Gut.

24 Aug 2021

Study finds unacceptably alarming rise in gestational diabetes among U.S. women

The rate of gestational diabetes has shot up 30 percent in young U.S. women over the past decade and more than doubled in U.S. women who identify as Asian-Indian compared with non-Hispanic White women, reports a new Northwestern Medicine study published in JAMA.

23 Aug 2021

Researchers develop a cell culture test to detect substances that harm the placenta and embryo

Researchers at ETH Zurich have developed a cell culture test to detect substances that are directly or indirectly harmful to embryos. Based on an existing test used for developing new drugs and chemicals, the augmented version is designed to help reduce the number of animal experiments.

22 Jul 2021

Early life exposure to antibiotics could alter brain development

Antibiotic exposure early in life could alter human brain development in areas responsible for cognitive and emotional functions, according to a Rutgers researcher.

14 Jul 2021

Researchers discover new genetic driver of autism and other developmental disorders

A research group including Kobe University's Professor TAKUMI Toru (also a Senior Visiting Scientist at RIKEN Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research) and Assistant Professor TAMADA Kota, both of the Physiology Division in the Graduate School of Medicine, has revealed a causal gene (Necdin, NDN) in autism model mice that have the chromosomal abnormality called copy number variation.

9 Jul 2021

Exploring links between stress, choline deficiency, preterm births, and mental illness

In two recent articles published in Schizophrenia Bulletin, Sharon Hunter, PhD, an associate professor in the University of Colorado School of Medicine Department of Psychiatry, and M. Camille Hoffman, MD, MSc, an associate professor in the University of Colorado School of Medicine Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, along with their research group, have uncovered a potential link between choline deficiency in Black pregnant women in the United States and increased risk of developmental and behavioral issues that can evolve into mental illness later in their children's lives.

7 Jul 2021

UCLA professor honored for contributions to the field of hematology

Dr. Elizabeta Nemeth, professor of medicine and director of the Center for Iron Disorders at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, has been awarded the 2021 William Dameshek Prize by the American Society of Hematology (ASH) for her contributions to the field of hematology.

2 Jul 2021

Prenatal THC and CBD exposure impairs offspring's ability to respond to fluoxetine

Scientists at Indiana University have found that significant amounts of the two main components of cannabis, THC and CBD, enter the embryonic brain of mice in utero and impair the mice's ability as adults to respond to fluoxetine, a drug commonly used to treat anxiety and depression and known by the brand name Prozac.

1 Jul 2021

Organic food intake linked with better fluid intelligence and working memory in children

A study analyzing the association between a wide variety of prenatal and childhood exposures and neuropsychological development in school-age children has found that organic food intake is associated with better scores on tests of fluid intelligence (ability to solve novel reasoning problems) and working memory (ability of the brain to retain new information while it is needed in the short term).

30 Jun 2021

In utero exposure to high levels of manganese, selenium may protect children from high blood pressure

Children who were exposed to higher levels of trace minerals manganese and selenium during their mothers' pregnancy had a lower risk of high blood pressure in childhood, according to a study led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

23 Jun 2021

Researchers explore potential exposure to microbial agents in-utero

The human fetal immune system begins to develop early during gestation, however, factors responsible for fetal immune-priming remain elusive.

16 Jun 2021

Prenatal exposure to air pollutants may increase infants' obesity risk

Women exposed to higher levels of air pollution during pregnancy have babies who grow unusually fast in the first months after birth, putting on excess fat that puts them at risk of obesity and related diseases later in life, new CU Boulder research shows.

15 Jun 2021

UCSF launches new initiative to propel the development of living therapeutics

UC San Francisco is launching a new initiative to propel the development of living therapeutics - a category of treatments broadly defined as human and microbial living cells that are selected, modified, or engineered to treat or cure disease - and bring them quickly to patients.

14 Jun 2021

Childhood stress associated with early emergence of permanent molars

Early in her career neuroscientist Allyson Mackey began thinking about molars. As a researcher who studies brain development, she wanted to know whether when these teeth arrived might indicate early maturation in children.

9 Jun 2021