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Women who are overweight while pregnant are more likely to have babies who are biologically older than those born to women of a healthy weight. This could put the babies at a higher risk of developing chronic diseases later in life, and may reduce their life expectancy. Our biological age is linked to the length of our telomeres - bits of DNA that cap the ends of our chromosomes. Our telomeres shrink every time our cells divide, and continue to shorten throughout life. "Short telomeres have been associated with cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and atherosclerosis," says Tim Nawrot at Hasselt University in Belgium.

Neonatologist Gurvir Khurana had only read about it in textbooks. Seeing it in real life has been a shock: baby after baby born severely anemic, lungs filled with fluid, bodies covered with rashes. Some only lived minutes; others died within days or weeks. The cause: congenital syphilis.

Thus began a fateful test of wills. Merrell responded. Dr. Kelsey wanted more. Merrell complained to Dr. Kelsey's bosses, calling her a petty bureaucrat. She persisted. On it went. But by late 1961, the terrible evidence was pouring in. The drug - better known by its generic name, thalidomide - was causing thousands of babies in Europe, Britain, Canada and the Middle East to be born with flipperlike arms and legs and other defects.

This case is based on Kate Chopin's short story "Desiree's Baby," a tragic tale of race and gender in antebellum Louisiana first published in 1893. Students read the story and then answer a series of questions about the genetics and evolution of skin color. The case was developed for a general biology course organized around the general theme of evolution. It could also be used in anthropology and biology courses for non-majors.

Meiosis, the form of cell division unique to egg and sperm production, sets the stage for sex determination by creating sperm that carry either an X or a Y sex chromosome. But what is it about the X or Y that determines sex? Before a meiotic cell divides, its two sets of chromosomes come together and cross over, or swap, segments. The first animation shows normal crossing over, where the X and Y chromosomes exchange pieces only at their tips. The second animation shows a rare mistake in which the Y chromosome transfers a gene called SRY to the X chromosome, resulting in sex-reversed babies. Studies of sex-reversed individuals led researchers to identify the master switch for sex determination, the SRY gene, which tells a fetus to become a boy.

Meiosis, the form of cell division unique to egg and sperm production, sets the stage for sex determination by creating sperm that carry either an X or a Y sex chromosome. But what is it about the X or Y that determines sex? Before a meiotic cell divides, its two sets of chromosomes come together and cross over, or swap, segments. The first animation shows normal crossing over, where the X and Y chromosomes exchange pieces only at their tips. The second animation shows a rare mistake in which the Y chromosome transfers a gene called SRY to the X chromosome, resulting in sex-reversed babies. Studies of sex-reversed individuals led researchers to identify the master switch for sex determination, the SRY gene, which tells a fetus to become a boy.

Habitat loss and disease in the American prairie pushed the black-footed ferret ​to the edge of extinction. Now these underground-dwelling mammals are making a comeback, through a captive-breeding program run by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. There, baby ferrets-called kits-are raised and released into the wild.​

The announcement comes about a week after the state's first case of measles of the year was confirmed. Cook County health officials would only identify the person with measles as a suburban resident who is older than 18. At the time, officials listed three places where others might have come into contact with the measles patient in mid-January - including two in Palatine.

THE prospect of creating intelligent designer babies has been the subject of ethical debate for decades, but we have lacked the ability to actually do it. That may now change, thanks to a new method of testing an embryo's genes that could soon be available in some IVF clinics in the US, New Scientist can reveal.

When women smoked daily during pregnancy, researchers identified 6,073 places where their babies' DNA was methylated differently from the DNA of nonsmokers' infants. Many of the differences were found on or near a collection of genes related to lung and nervous system development, smoking-related cancers and birth defects such as cleft lip and palate.

Scientists have created an "artificial womb" in the hopes of someday using the device to save babies born extremely prematurely. So far the device has only been tested on fetal lambs. A study published Tuesday involving eight animals found the device appears effective at enabling very premature fetuses to develop normally for about a month.

Geneticist Jennifer Doudna co-invented a groundbreaking new technology for editing genes, called CRISPR-Cas9. The tool allows scientists to make precise edits to DNA strands, which could lead to treatments for genetic diseases … but could also be used to create so-called "designer babies." Doudna reviews how CRISPR-Cas9 works - and asks the scientific community to pause and discuss the ethics of this new tool.

Designer babies, the end of diseases, genetically modified humans that never age. Outrageous things that used to be science fiction are suddenly becoming reality. The only thing we know for sure is that things will change irreversibly.

Common in cuisine all around the globe, onions are renowned for their ability to make us all look like cry babies. In Reactions' latest video, we get to the bottom of this teary phenomenon and reveal exactly what chemical mechanisms trigger it. The video also features a few chemistry-backed tips you can try at home to stop the tears before they start.

Yahoo News article 4/30 Published in the journal Nature Communications, the study claims to provide strong evidence that a mother's diet before pregnancy can permanently affect her child's lifelong health by silencing certain genes.

This case study introduces students to the structure and function of cellular organelles and seeks to show their importance by discussing diseases and disorders that can result when an organelle does not function as it should. The storyline follows a family whose joy at bringing home a new baby is soon altered by their child's sudden illness, which is eventually diagnosed as Leigh Disease. This disease occurs when defective mitochondria fail to produce energy needed by the cell, particularly affecting cells with high-energy needs like those in the brain, muscle, and gastrointestinal tract. The narrative also discusses some of the ways in which Leigh disease is inherited, treatment options, and the typical prognosis. The case was designed for an introductory non-majors biology course, but could also be used in other science or health related courses. Instructors also have the option of running the case in a "flipped classroom" in which students watch three recommended videos outside of class as a way of preparing for working on the case in class.

If you think of your dog as your "fur baby," science has your back. New research shows that when our canine pals stare into our eyes, they activate the same hormonal response that bonds us to human infants. The study-the first to show this hormonal bonding effect between humans and another species-may help explain how dogs became our companions thousands of years ago.

Like many newborn mammals, baby mice cry to get their mother's attention. But the mother doesn't instinctively recognize these calls; she must learn the sounds of her offspring-just as human parents must learn the cries of their infants. Now, a team of researchers has discovered that the hormone oxytocin, which has been tied to trust and maternal bonding, holds the key to how this learning occurs. Only after oxytocin  tweaks the brain of a female mouse does she respond with a mother's concern and attentiveness to crying pups.

When babies are born, their eyes and hair are one color, but change within the first few years of their life! Why do hair and eye colors change? Trace explains the process of inheriting certain traits from your parents, and discusses why the colors change!

In the war against aging, Alzheimer's disease is one of our biggest foes. But while we seem to be losing the battle, we may finally have found some chinks in its armor. The most common form of dementia already affects an estimated 5.2 million Americans and 45 million others worldwide, and these numbers are projected to triple by the year 2050 as the baby boomer generation reaches retirement.

Unborn babies can sow the seeds for rheumatoid arthritis in their mothers - and the dads might be to blame. Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease, meaning the body's immune system turns on itself. In this case, it causes painful, swollen joints. Women are three times as likely to develop the condition as men, and seem to be especially vulnerable soon after pregnancy. A mother exchanges cells with the fetus while it is in the womb. "For most women, shortly after you give birth, the fetal cells clear up," says Giovanna Cruz, an epidemiologist at the University of California at Berkeley. "But in a subset of women they actually persist for decades." In these women, the fetal cells are effectively incorporated into their bodies, a process known as microchimerism.