Doctors in Denmark have succeeded in producing a two-cell embryo after ovarian tissue was removed, frozen, and then thawed and replaced two years later. It is believed that this is the first time a European group has succeeded in creating an embryo in this way.
Dr. Claus Yding Andersen told the 20th annual conference of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology: “It is only a matter of time before a woman becomes pregnant and gives birth to a child after having a thawed ovar
Five children have been born conceived from previously isolated and frozen egg cells, Italian scientists announced today (Wednesday 30 June 2004) at the 20th annual conference of the European Society for Human Reproduction and Embryology. The method bears great promise for patients who live in countries where embryo cryopreservation (freezing) is prohibited, like Italy, or who object to embryo freezing for personal reasons, said Dr. Paolo Levi Setti from the Istituto Clinico Humanitas in Milan.
Abnormalities in the spindles (the bi-polar thread like structures that link and pull the chromosomes during cell division) of human embryos before implantation may be the primary reason for many of the chromosome defects observed in early human development, a scientist said on Wednesday 30 June 2004 at the 20th annual conference of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology. Dr. Katerina Chatzimeletiou, from the Bridge Fertility Centre, London, UK, told the conference that her resear
Recent research has shown that over the past 50 years the evaporative demand at the terrestrial surface has decreased in many regions, while rainfall has remained constant or even increased a little, effectively making the land wetter. Much of the research to date has been undertaken in the Northern Hemisphere, but a new report details the changes specific to Australia between 1970 and 2002. Results are published this week in the International Journal of Climatology.
In the time period stud
Manufacturing with the World’s Largest DRAM Production
Facility Inotera Memories, Inc., a joint venture of Infineon Technologies AG and Nanya Technology Corporation, announces the inauguration of its 300mm semiconductor production facility today. Inotera will produce memory products at the world’s largest and most competitive 300mm DRAM production site with a total capacity of more than 50,000 wafer starts per month when fully operational. The first DRAM chips using 110nm trench tec
UK Scientists are leading research which seeks to unlock the migratory secrets of endangered marine turtles at all four corners of the Atlantic this summer. Members of the public are invited to log on and follow their progress on a ground breaking free access website provided by USA non-profit SEATURTLE.ORG.
This summer, marine turtle scientists from the Centre for Ecology and Conservation of the University of Exeter in Cornwall are working with a range of national and international
If you want to pass an exam, be sure to get some good sleep before-hand. Because in sleep the brain processes and consolidates newly learnt matter. This is revealed in a new study shortly to be published in Nature. The study was supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF).
As soon as deep sleep sets in, the brain cells start working in concord. Like football fans raising their hands in unison during a Mexican wave, millions of individual brain cells respond simultaneously wi
To become the world’s most competitive powerhouse, Europe must lead the transition of the micro-electronics sector to the next generation of nano-electronics, with co-ordinated public and private investments of at least €6 billion per year. This is the message from a report drawn up by CEOs of leading companies and research organisations and presented today to European Research Commissioner Philippe Busquin and Enterprise and Information Society Commissioner Erkki Liikanen. Smarter and smaller elec
Children whose mothers suffer domestic abuse are much more likely to be abused themselves. An article in BMC Medicine today shows that active screening significantly helps physicians to identify families that experience domestic abuse, and thus to protect children.
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) notes that, “child abuse occurs in one third to three quarters of families that experience domestic violence”. Identifying these women, and taking steps to intervene, may be one of the m
Individuals who took a dietary supplement containing extracts of Opuntia ficus indica, a type of prickly pear cactus, before consuming alcohol, had reduced symptoms of alcohol hangover compared to individuals who drank but took placebo, according to an article in the June 28 issue of The Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Alcohol hangovers cause substantial economic and health consequences, the article states. The severity of alcohol hangovers may be related to
If you have heart failure — a common and life-threatening condition for survivors of heart attacks – a newer hormone-blocking therapy could help you live longer and better, according to the July issue of Mayo Clinic Health Letter.
Heart failure occurs when the heart’s ability to pump blood to the rest of the body is damaged or weakened. It’s usually the end result of other cardiovascular conditions.
Heart failure is influenced by the many hormones that are produced as a result of
Genetically engineered mice, created at the University of Michigan Medical School, are living every dieter’s dream. They eat unlimited amounts of high-fat mouse chow, but have about 50 percent less body fat than normal mice on a low-fat diet. And they show no signs of diabetes or other metabolic disorders, which are common in animals with too little fat.
But don’t stock up on potato chips and ice cream just yet. The genetically altered mice are leaner than normal mice, but they also have so
Alzheimer’s isn’t always the cause of a progressive loss of memory and other mental skills.
According to the July issue of Mayo Clinic Health Letter, one cause is vascular dementia, a common form of dementia often mistaken for Alzheimer’s disease. Vascular dementia, which accounts for 10 percent to 20 percent of all dementias, occurs when small blood vessels in the brain become narrowed or blocked, causing brain damage.
You may be at risk of vascular dementia if you have certain
In the June 2004 issue of Mechanical Engineering, a publication of ASME, the magazine reports on a fuel cell that cleans domestic wastewater while producing electrical energy.
This new type of microbial fuel cell, which is in the early stages of research at Pennsylvania State University, takes the high concentration of organic matter found in wastewater and coverts it to energy. “Where a typical fuel cell runs on hydrogen, a microbial fuel cell relies in the anaerobic oxidation of organic ma
A strain of yeast developed at Purdue University more effectively makes ethanol from agricultural residues that would otherwise be discarded or used as animal feed, and the first license for the yeast has been issued to the biotechnology company Iogen Corp.
Purdue’s genetically altered yeast allows about 40 percent more ethanol to be made from sugars derived from agricultural residues, such as corn stalks and wheat straw, compared with “wild-type” yeasts that occur in nature.
Scientists affiliated with the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP), an international scientific research program designed to contribute fundamental knowledge to the topics of climate change, geologic hazards, energy resources, and Earth’s environment, departed Astoria, Ore., June 28, for the first leg of six planned expeditions. At the Juan de Fuca Ridge, off the coast of British Columbia, the first IODP expedition will undertake hydrologic, microbiological, seismic and tracer stud
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