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IMAGE: Exercise expert Zhen Yan, PhD, of the University of Virginia School of Medicine, stands in a door decorated with numbers from races his lab members have participated in. view more
Credit: Dan Addison | UVA Communications
Exercise during pregnancy may let mothers significantly reduce their children s chances of developing diabetes and other metabolic diseases later in life, new research suggests.
A study in lab mice has found that maternal exercise during pregnancy prevented the transmission of metabolic diseases from an obese parent - either mother or father - to child. If the finding holds true in humans, it will have huge implications for helping pregnant women ensure their children live the healthiest lives possible, the researchers report in a new scientific paper.
More human twins are being born than ever before, according to the first comprehensive, global overview published in Human Reproduction, one of the world s leading reproductive medicine journals.
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IMAGE: UMD-led study revealed age-related changes to the DNA of bats related to longevity. Clockwise from top left: common vampire bat (G. Wilkinson), greater horseshoe bat (G. Jones), velvety free-tailed bat. view more
Credit: G. Wilkinson, G. Jones, S. Puechmaille, M. Tschapka
A new study led by University of Maryland and UCLA researchers found that DNA from tissue samples can be used to accurately predict the age of bats in the wild. The study also showed age-related changes to the DNA of long-lived species are different from those in short-lived species, especially in regions of the genome near genes associated with cancer and immunity. This work provides new insight into causes of age-related declines.
Credit: Isabelle Plante (INRS)
Brominated flame retardants (BFRs) are found in furniture, electronics, and kitchenware to slow the spread of flames in the event of a fire. However, it has been shown that these molecules may lead to early mammary gland development, which is linked to an increased risk of breast cancer. The study on the subject by Professor Isabelle Plante from the Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS) made the cover of the February issue of the journal
Toxicological Sciences.
Part of the flame retardants are considered to be endocrine disruptors, i.e. they interfere with the hormonal system. Since they are not directly bound to the material in which they are added, the molecules escape easily. They are then found in house dust, air and food.
Credit: John Skalicky/USC
A new model of aging takes into account not only genetics and environmental exposures but also the tiny changes that randomly arise at the cellular level.
University Professor Caleb Finch introduced the Tripartite Phenotype of Aging as a new conceptual model that addresses why lifespan varies so much, even among human identical twins who share the same genes. Only about 10 to 35 percent of longevity can be traced to genes inherited from our parents, Finch mentioned.
Finch authored the paper introducing the model with one of his former graduate students, Amin Haghani, who received his PhD in the Biology of Aging from the USC Leonard Davis School in 2020 and is now a postdoctoral researcher at UCLA. In the article, they propose that the limited heritability of aging patterns and longevity in humans is an outcome of gene-environment interactions, together with stochastic, or chance, variations in the body s cells. These random changes can include cellular