Simple blood test in the first trimester predicts fetal gender

Bethesda, MD—A new research study published in the January 2012 edition of The FASEB Journal (http://www.fasebj.org) describes findings that could lead to a non-invasive test that would let expecting mothers know the sex of their baby as early as the first trimester. Specifically, researchers from South Korea discovered that various ratios of two enzymes (DYS14/GAPDH), which can be extracted from a pregnant mother’s blood, indicate if the baby will be a boy or a girl. Such a test would be the first of its kind.

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New study shows promise for preventing preterm births

A new study co-authored by the University of Kentucky’s Dr. John O’Brien found that applying vaginal progesterone to women who are at a high risk of preterm birth significantly decreased the odds of a premature delivery.

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Researchers pinpoint possible new cause for unexplained miscarriages

—Researchers at St. Michael’s Hospital have identified a potential new cause for unexplained miscarriages in mice.

They also identified two possible treatments to prevent these miscarriages and their work has broader implications for the development of new drugs to treat heart attacks and strokes.

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Low-fat yogurt intake when pregnant may lead to child asthma and hay fever

Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Eating low-fat yoghurt whilst pregnant can increase the risk of your child developing asthma and allergic rhinitis (hay fever), according to recent findings.

The study will be presented at the European Respiratory Society’s (ERS) Annual Congress in Amsterdam on 25 September 2011. All the abstracts for the ERS Congress will be publicly available online from today (17 September 2011).

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Single vaccines to protect against both rabies and Ebola

Partnering with the NIH, Thomas Jefferson University successfully tests a vaccine in mice that could lead to a more effective public health tool in Africa

PHILADELPHIA—Researchers from Thomas Jefferson University, among other institutions, including the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, have developed single vaccines to protest against both rabies and the Ebola virus.

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Early embryos can correct genetic abnormalities during development

Findings have significant implications for fertility treatment and stem cell therapies

Professor William G. Kearns told the annual meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology that a three-day-old embryo (called a cleavage stage embryo) with an incorrect number of chromosomes (known as “aneuploidy”) was capable of undergoing “a dynamic process of genetic normalisation” so that by day five, when it had developed to the blastocyst stage, it had become euploid, with the correct number of chromosomes.

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Swedish researchers develop new method to avoid twins while maintaining high live birth rates

How many embryos to transfer?

Dr Jan Holte told the annual meeting of the European Society for Human Reproduction and Embryology, that if this model were to be applied in all fertility clinics, it had the potential to reduce the twin rates to the level of just under two percent seen in the normal population. Already, another four clinics have started to use the model.

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PGD can permit the birth of healthy children to women carrying mitochondrial DNA disease

Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) can give women at risk of passing on a mitochondrial DNA disorder to their offspring a good chance of being able to give birth to an unaffected child, a researcher told the annual conference of the European Society of Human Genetics today (Monday). Dr. Debby Hellebrekers, from Maastricht University Medical Centre, Maastricht, The Netherlands, said that the scientists’ findings could have a considerable effect on preventing the transmission of mitochondrial diseases.

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Fertility treatment: Safer drug for women leads to same live birth rate

Gonadotrophin-releasing hormone antagonists as effective as agonists with fewer serious harmful effects

With new information available, authors of a Cochrane Systematic Review have revised their conclusions about the relative effectiveness of two different treatments used to help women become pregnant. They now conclude that giving women gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (GnRH) antagonists leads to similar live-birth rates compared with GnRH agonists. Previously they had concluded that women who used antagonists tended to have lower birth-rates than those using agonists.

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Lengthening dosing schedule of HPV vaccine may provide effective option for expanding use of vaccine

Administration of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine doses over a longer period of time to adolescent girls in Vietnam resulted in antibody concentration levels that were comparable to the standard vaccine schedule, according to a study in the April 13 issue of JAMA, a theme issue on infectious disease and immunology.

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