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This lab-grown ball of human cells shares many similarities with 5-day-old human embryos. UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS SOUTHWESTERN MEDICAL CENTER
Researchers re-create key human embryo stage in lab
Mar. 17, 2021 , 12:25 PM
A human embryo at the blastocyst stage is smaller than the tip of a ballpoint pen and may contain fewer than 100 cells, but this developmental waypoint has long puzzled and vexed biologists and physicians. Many miscarriages occur during this stage, for example, and a blastocyst can also split to create twins. Now, multiple research groups have found ways to mimic blastocysts, coaxing lab-grown human cells to form clusters that closely resemble the true thing.
Infertility risk linked to air pollution
Appeared in BioNews 1084
High pollution levels can increase the risk of infertility by up to 20 percent, a study in China has found.
The researchers wrote that their findings point to pollution as an unignorable risk factor for infertility . It is believed to be the first study that examines the link between air pollution and infertility in the general population, rather than solely in fertility patients. Numerous studies have noted that air pollution is associated with lots of adverse pregnancy events, lead author Dr Qin Li, from the Centre for Reproductive Medicine at Peking University Third Hospital in Beijing, China, told the Guardian. Our study samples were recruited from the general population, so our findings may be more generalisable, he added.
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Lara Adejoro
A new study by reproductive health experts has found that air pollution is associated with increased infertility risk for couples by up to 20 per cent.
The researchers say the association might explain the increased infertility rates in polluted areas.
The study, conducted in China, according to the researchers, tracked more than 10,000 couples.
It found that those who experienced higher levels of particulate pollution were one-fifth more likely to fail to become pregnant within a year of beginning to try.
The study, led by Qin Li of the Centre for Reproductive Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing, China, was published in the Environment International journal.
Radio 4’s
Woman’s Hour has been accused of perpetuating “damaging and prejudicial tropes” about Islam during a “strikingly hostile” interview with Zara Mohammed, the first female general secretary of the Muslim Council of Britain. An open letter signed by more than 100 public figures, including Tory peer Sayeeda Warsi, the Labour MPs Diane Abbott and Naz Shah, and the comedian Deborah Frances-White, criticised the show’s presenter, Emma Barnett, for repeatedly and aggressively interrogating Mohammed about the number of female imams in the country.
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US shock jock dies at 70
Rush Limbaugh, the right-wing media icon and talk-radio star, has died aged 70 after a battle with cancer. His wife, Kathryn, said: “As so many of you know, losing a loved one is terribly difficult, even more so when that loved one is larger than life.” Limbaugh, who was best known as the host of his radio show
Celebrity scandal triggers debate on surrogacy By YANG WANLI | CHINA DAILY | Updated: 2021-02-01 08:30 Share
Case attracts billions of social media views
A surrogacy scandal involving a leading Chinese actress has triggered billions of views on a major social media platform.
The case, which netizens labeled the most interesting topic to discuss over a cup of tea , centers on Zheng Shuang, 29, who is accused by her ex-boyfriend Zhang Heng of abandoning two children born to surrogate mothers in the United States.
The scandal had attracted more than 20 billion views as of Wednesday on Sina Weibo, with many people voicing shock.