June 16, 2017 Where viral vectors "travel" and which types of neural cells they infect, can be visualized by fluorescent Proteins being transmitted. Credit: Kirsti Witter/Vetmeduni Vienna

Gene transfer is seen as a hopeful therapy for Alzheimer's and Parkinson's patients. The approach involves using harmless laboratory-produced viruses to introduce important genes into the brain cells. In a study on mice, a team of researchers from Vetmeduni Vienna for the first time investigated how far these viruses spread in the brain and which cells they infect. Some of the artificial viruses travelled from the injection site in the brain as far as the olfactory bulb or the cerebellum and infected not only neurons but also other cells. The results, which were published in the journal Histochemistry and Cell Biology, could help to improve the selection of suitable viral "gene transporters" for custom therapies using gene transfer.

Purposefully infecting brain cells with viruses may seem somewhat odd. But for patients suffering from neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's or Parkinson's, this type of therapy could be a glimmer of hope. The viruses used in this approach do not trigger any disease themselves. They serve as harmless transporters for genes specifically intended to treat these disorders. The therapy, called gene transfer, uses the ability of viruses to insert their genes into the genome of a host cell. This method could therefore be used to purposefully introduce helpful genetic information into neurons.

Viral vectors don't stay put

Viruses suitable for gene transfer are injected into the brain. Previously, however, there had been no studies of how far the viral transporters can spread from the injection site. Earlier studies had usually only investigated the immediate area around the injection canal. A new study with mice has now shown for the first time that some of the tested viruses can travel long distances into different areas of the brain. "In our study, we injected the viral vectors into key areas of the cerebrum responsible, among other things, for the coordinationof body movement ," explains Kirsti Witter from the Institute for Anatomy, Histology and Embryology at Vetmeduni Vienna. From there, some of the viruses spread into distant areas such as the cerebellum or the olfactory bulb.

"This information is important because, depending on the type of neurodegenerative disease, it may be desirable to have as broad a distribution of the virus as possible or to infect a specific, strictly delimited area," says first author Juraj Hlavaty. "This study also shows that all tested viruses can infect the neurons and the surrounding glial cells as expected. Depending on the type of virus, however, there were differences in the number and ratio of the infected cell types."

Inflammation could influence which brain cells are infected

Depending on the virus strain used, the injection triggered a mild or more pronounced reaction of the nerve tissue in the treated mice. The stronger the immune response, the more glial cells were infected. "The fact that individual viruses infected these cells better than the neurons must, however, still be confirmed in future experiments," says Hlavaty.

The results of the work, achieved in collaboration with the University of West Bohemia, Pilsen, Czech Republic, and the Paul-Ehrlich-Institute, Langen, Germany, should contribute to improve the selection of viral transporters. "The goal is to create a toolbox of possible viruses in order to choose exactly the right transporter for the custom treatment of a neurodegenerative disease," says Witter.

Artificial copies of viruses as hopeful therapy

Copies of lentiviruses are especially well-suited for gene transfer therapy. "The genome of laboratory-produced lentiviruses consists only of areas that are necessary for the infection and incorporation into the genome. This represents a fundamental difference between these viruses and naturally occurring pathogenic viruses," explains Hlavaty. Through the ability of the artificial viruses to enter a host, the inserted human genes are introduced into the infected cells to assume the tasks that the patients' cells no longer perform themselves.

Explore further: Smallest-reported artificial virus could help advance gene therapy

More information: Juraj Hlavat et al. Tropism, intracerebral distribution, and transduction efficiency of HIV- and SIV-based lentiviral vectors after injection into the mouse brain: a qualitative and quantitative in vivo study, Histochemistry and Cell Biology (2017). DOI: 10.1007/s00418-017-1569-1

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Original post:
Viral vectors travel longer distances than previously thought - Phys.org - Phys.Org

A boxer-turned-firefighter and Oldham-born actress Sarah Lancashire have been recognised in the Queens Birthday Honours.

Greater Manchesters police officers and community champions have also been celebrated, as well as trailblazers in research, education, local government and grassroots sport.

Firefighter Nigel Travis, 44, came up with the knockout idea to convert an unused storage unit in Moss Side fire station yard into a boxing den for youngsters in the area.

The project has flourished since it was set up by the former boxer and two fire service colleagues in 2010.

Nigel and his pals aim to show how the discipline of boxing can have a positive impact on young peoples lives.

Nigel, from Worsley, is awarded a British Empire Medal (BEM) for services to boxing and the community.

Im just a boxing coach, said Nigel.

At first I wasnt going to accept it. I felt a bit embarrassed, as Im just doing something that I love.

The dad-of-two said one of his proudest achievements had been in training Connor Tudsbury, who became a national champion.

He turned his life around with boxing, he added.

Oldham-born actress Sarah Lancashire, 52, star of Yorkshire crime drama Happy Valley and Last Tango in Halifax, is made an OBE for her services to drama.

GMP Chf Supt John OHare has been recognised for managing many of the major events held across Greater Manchester, awarded the Queens Police Medal.

He has responsibility for policing football matches and has performed the role of European Commander since 2005 working with Manchester United and Manchester City.

John also has responsibility for security around political party conferences.

In his early career John was the youngest police diver in the country. He also led the high-profile multi-agency response to the Boxing Day floods in 2015.

He said: It is really humbling and I can only justify the nomination by accepting the award on behalf of the fantastic police officers, police staff, key partners and community activists who have supported me over the last 30 years.

A long-serving care home worker has been recognised for services to the disabled in the Queens Birthday Honours.

Daniel Savage, 58, has worked at Brookvale Care Home in Prestwich, Bury, for 20 years and been the chairman there for a decade.

He said he was delighted to receive the British Empire Medal for Services to Disabled People.

My role is to ensure the buildings and are members are being looked after, he said.

The award has been a surprise and in my mind a token of thanks for both the management teams I work with, who have allowed me to serve the community.

The 58-year-old, who works for a computer hardware supplier, is also president of Manchester Reform Synagogue on Jacksons Row in Manchester.

Mr Savage works with 500 Jewish families over Greater Manchester, keeping people together and ensuring elderly members have access to social events.

He said he has recently been working on Gary Nevilles development project which will see the Jacksons Row building demolished for development: Ive spent over ten years working on that project.

Hopefully we would like to think we will break ground next year. This will give the synagogue a new lease of life. It will continue to be the only synagogue in Manchester.

This work over the last 20 years is something Ive been able to give my time to and is something I enjoy, he said.

A superhead who has helped turn around a number of struggling Greater Manchester primary schools has been recognised for services to education.

Simon Bramwell, headteacher of 25 years and leader of 10 primary schools in Manchester, Salford and Bolton, is awarded an OBE in the Queens Birthday Honours.

Mr Bramwell, chief executive of SS Simon and Jude Academy Trust in Great Lever, is credited with helping a number of schools in difficulties quickly improve.

The 57-year-old said: Im really grateful to have been nominated for this honour.

I hope it is seen as a reflection of the dedication and commitment of the large team of dedicated professionals who have helped to improve life chances for young people across the region.

It is an absolute privilege to have done, and continue to do, the job I love. To receive recognition in this way is hugely rewarding and affirming both to myself and other colleagues who work with the same purpose.

I could not have done the work I have without the support and understanding of my family and I know that they too are, as I am, very proud to accept this award.

The policeman killed after confronting the Westminster attacker outside Parliament, Julie Walters and David Walliams are among those honoured by the Queen.

Her Birthday Honours list is described as the most diverse yet, with names ranging from Oscar-winner Olivia de Havilland, turning 101 next month the oldest woman to become a dame, to Ed Sheeran and Judy Murray.

Meanwhile comedian Billy Connolly was given a knighthood and Julie Walters made a Dame.

Yorkshire-born founder of Iceland supermarket Malcolm Walker is knighted for services to retailing, entrepreneurship and charity, while brothers Brian and Alan Stannah, of family-run stairlift company Stannah Lifts, are given MBEs for services to British manufacturing.

In a break with tradition, the Queens Civilian Gallantry List has been released at the same time as the monarchs birthday honours.

PC Keith Palmer, who was sadly stabbed to death by attacker Khalid Masood in March on the forecourt of the Palace of Westminister, is to be posthumously awarded the George Medal for confronting an armed terrorist to protect others and Parliament.

Briton Dominic Troulan, an ex-soldier who was working as a civilian in Kenya when terrorists attacked a shopping mall in 2013, is awarded the George Cross for saving lives during the massacre.

Bernard Kenny, who was stabbed in the abdomen as he tried to stop neo-Nazi Thomas Mair attacking Mrs Cox outside her constituency surgery in Yorkshire, receives the George Medal one year on from the murder.

Two West Yorkshire Police officers, Pc Craig Nicholls and Pc Jonathan Wright, who arrested Mair are awarded the Queens Gallantry Medal.

There are a total of 1,109 people on the Queens Birthday Honours list, of whom 438 are awarded an MBE, 221 an OBE and 303 a BEM.

ORDER OF THE BATH

COMPANION - CB

Janice Lindsay Hartley, from Bowdon. Implementation and Delivery director, Universal Credit, Department for Work and Pensions. For services to the Development of Universal Credit.

ORDER OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE

CBE

Sally Kaye Cheshire, Stockport. Chair, Human Fertilisation and Embryology Chair, Health Education England (North). For services to the NHS and Infertility Patients.

OBE

MBE

BRITISH EMPIRE MEDAL - BEM

QUEENS POLICE MEDAL - QPM

Excerpt from:
Greater Manchester community champions celebrated in Queen's Birthday Honours - Manchester Evening News

It's a question that's been bothering humans for centuries, even before the theory of evolution was first conceived. Why do men and other male mammals have nipples if they don't feed their young? What's the point?

"I have received more than a dozen requests to explain how evolution could possibly produce such a useless structure," evolutionary biologist Stephen Jay Gould wrote in a journal column back in 1993.

After all, the vast majority of men never lactate, although there are a few exceptions which typically involve some hormonal problem. But when we think about traits from an evolutionary perspective, we often think in terms of 'What is this thing good for?'

It turns out that the case of male nipples somewhat contradicts that very question.

The short answer is that it's not necessarily a feature produced by evolution - instead, it's more like a feature that evolution didn't bother to get rid of, or possibly even couldn't.

"In my view of life ... male nipples are an expectation based on pathways of sexual differentiation in mammalian embryology," wrote Gould.

What he was referring to is the fact that all mammal embryos - male and female - start out looking exactly the same, with potential to develop into either sex.

But if the embryo has an XY chromosome set, after the first few weeks a gene called SRY kicks in, triggering the genetic switch that sends the embryo down the male development path.

But here's the thing - mammary glands start developing super-early, even before SRY can do its job. And so the precursors to breast tissue, nipples and all, are preserved even once an embryo becomes biologically male.

And it's not like having nipples is a costly feature to have. So even if evolution could rewire the developmental process to get rid of them for men, it's more likely that it just shrugged and let them be.

It's also a reminder that evolution is kinda messy. According to evolutionary biologist Rob Brooks from the University of New South Wales in Australia, several genes can be involved in the making of a trait, leaving it around even if it's not being selected for.

"Even for periods of time, something can be selected neither for nor against, and what you would expect under those circumstances is that the presence or absence of our traits will drift," Brooks told ScienceAlert.

So the answer seems pretty simple in the end. But exploring the question about male nipples also gives us a nice lesson about adaptive thinking in evolution.

People sometimes get carried away and try to find an evolutionary explanation for every trait they see. After all, when you understand the basic premise of evolution, it becomes a pretty compelling narrative.

"It's really tempting to [view traits as adaptive] because once you understand the adaptive logic, then you start - like with all confirmation bias - to see the signature of adaptation everywhere," says Brooks.

But just because a story is compelling, doesn't mean it's accurate. Sure, you could come up with some elaborate story on how male nipples must be attractive for females somehow, but it's much more plausible to consider the simple developmental wiring problem we explained above.

Gould himself was famously critical of "just-so stories" about natural selection, but bear in mind that they can be an excellent starting point for further experiments.

"Science is there to test the ideas, so adaptive storytelling is hugely important, because it's the source of our hypotheses," Brooks told ScienceAlert.

"If you don't come up with an adaptive story, then there's nothing to test."

Of course, in the case of male nipples, we don't need an adaptive story. Just treat them as accessories, guys.

View original post here:
Why Do Men Have Nipples? - ScienceAlert

EDITOR: Regarding the analogy of prohibition of alcohol, among other examples of people engaging in forbidden acts, used by Helen Koenig in her letter to the editor on Thursday, June 8, it hardly compares to the taking of lives of the most vulnerable of all humans; the baby, yes a viable human being confirmed by modern science and composed of human DNA.

At about 22 days after conception, the child's cardiovascular system is developed and his heartbeat can be detected on ultrasound. At just six weeks, the child's eyes and eyelids, nose, mouth and tongue have formed.

By the end of the second month all organs and bodily structures have been developed. During fetal surgery, the baby is administered anesthesia separate from his mother.

Unborn humans, depending upon the stage, are weaker, lesser developed, more helpless and less personable than born humans, but this does not make them any less human. Embryology has made this very clear. The fetus, therefore, is a living, breathing human and cannot be compared to a tree trunk as Koenig implies.

In 1865, the 13th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution was ratified to outlaw slavery. However, a modern form of slavery - human trafficking - still exists in America today. This surely doesnt mean that slavery should still be allowed just because it exists illegally.

I have heard the expression time and time again that abortion is the scourge of our time, just like slavery was the scourge of previous centuries. Thankfully, there is a movement among the younger generation who can see abortion for what it really is. I am hopeful that in the future, society will look back to our era and wonder how we could have let abortion happen in the first place, just like when we ponder how slavery could have ever been made legal.

Abortion is a social justice and a human rights issue to the very core.

Aside from the psychological impact abortion has on the mother, it has been well established that induced abortion can cause breast cancer. There have been 37 worldwide studies from 1957-2013 that support this fact, which is sadly ignored by cancer organizations due to political reasons.

I do agree with Koenig that more education is badly needed, so people will truly see that abortion is not the answer and the infanticide that has been taking place can finally come to an end.

Most people who take the pro-life stance deeply care about pregnant women and understand how an unplanned pregnancy can be a tremendous stressor in life. This has resulted in a network of crisis pregnancy centers throughout the country to help women who do not have the means to care for their baby or may have been shunned by family.

They also care about post abortive women and the issues they face resulting in organizations such as Rachels Vineyard and Hope after Abortion.

Lastly, for readers who might say keep your religious and moral beliefs to yourself, well, that is just what those who worked to abolish slavery were told.

CINDY DECORGES

Far Hills

See more here:
LETTER: Abortion is a human rights issue - New Jersey Hills

June 12 2017, 12:01am,The Times

Cities are observably shaping the evolution of physical organisms

The diversity of species, living and extinct, was once thought by all sophisticated people to be explicable by the actions of a divine creator. In perhaps the most important intellectual advance in human history, the right explanation was arrived at less than 200 years ago by Charles Darwin.

Though Darwin did not originate the concept of evolution, he explained its basic mechanism of natural selection and random mutation. His conclusions are substantiated by mountains of evidence from the fossil record, embryology, molecular biology, the geographical distribution of plants and animals, and much else.

Now there is evidence of evolution at greater speed than anything previously observed. Modern humans live increasingly in cities and, as science would predict, organisms adapt to their environment. Pigeons and other

Read the rest here:
Darwin's Idea - The Times (subscription)

When I first visited a fertility doctor because of pregnancy problems, I had no idea that the in vitro fertilization, or IVF, he was suggesting to help me was actually the "test-tube baby" technique that I'd heard about, an approach that had sounded scary, like something out of science fiction.

After I educated myself and started treatment, the concerns continued: Would the hormone-stimulating drugs have adverse effects on me? What would the drugs do to the fetus? And more important, would conceiving a child outside the womb (not actually in a test tube but in an embryology lab) have any long-term effects? Most important, would my child - if I would be lucky enough to give birth to one - be as physically and mentally healthy as naturally conceived children?

Articles and blogs fed into my worries - not to mention the online "mommy boards" at pregnancy and fertility websites where women trade rumors, innuendoes and fears, often based on nothing more than a friend's experience.

Since the first test-tube baby, Louise Brown, was born in England in 1978, about 6.5 million children have been born worldwide with the help of assisted reproductive technologies (ART) such as IVF. So there is now enough information to address my concerns. Overall, those findings leave me pretty confident that the risks are pretty small and well worth taking if, like me, you want to have a baby but can't.

Although taking fertility medications drove me crazy - some hormones gave me nightmares, others kept me up at night, and the main ones made my mind race loopily - looking at studies allowed me to conclude that IVF probably has no long-term bad effects.

For instance, a 2013 study of 21,646 women in Australia concluded that "there is no evidence of an increased risk of ovarian cancer following IVF in women who give birth." Another study of 9,825 American women found no link between gonadotropins - the drugs I was taking to increase my egg production - and ovarian cancer for women who gave birth. There was one worrisome point: Both studies found an increased cancer risk for women with "resistant infertility" - i.e., those who did not give birth - although the researchers did not know why.

A recent study in the journal JAMA of about 25,000 women who had fertility treatments between 1980 and 1995 found that those who had gone through IVF had no greater risk of getting breast cancer in the subsequent 21 years than those who used other techniques.

Whew. I went through nine rounds of IVF before I got pregnant, which means I took a lot of ovary-stimulating drugs, so these studies are reassuring.

"Numerous studies and opinions from [the American Society for Reproductive Medicine] confirm low risk for ovarian and breast cancer from the use of fertility drugs, regardless of the number of IVF cycles performed," said Jeffrey Braverman, founder and medical director at Braverman IVF & Reproductive Immunology in New York.

So how about risks to the baby? Would he or she be affected by her medically assisted conception?

Two studies have raised concerns.

A 2016 study in JAMA Pediatrics found increased risk for birth defects in babies conceived through ART. The study, which involved more than 4 million infants, found that "singleton infants conceived using ART were 40 percent more likely to have a nonchromosomal birth defect (such as cleft lip and/or palate or a congenital heart defect) compared with all other singleton births."

The researchers acknowledged that the study "did not account for some factors related to infertility that might explain the observed increases in risk for birth defects." In other words, IVF may not have caused the defects. They recommended further research.

A comprehensive review of a group of other studies suggested that the risk for developmental disabilities was greater with ART - which, in addition to IVF, includes egg freezing and surrogacy - than with natural childbirth. The review examined studies of IVF and autism, cerebral palsy, intellectual disability, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and sensory impairment, among others, and found conflicting information, no correlation or that the disabilities could have been caused by other factors such as preterm birth.

And a study published in March found an increased risk of neoplasms - tumors that can be benign or malignant - in children born through ART.

But I focused on a study that followed children conceived with ART into their teenage years. It offers a much more reassuring view. The study, published in January, compared 253 16- and 17-year-olds who were conceived with fertility treatments to a cohort of teenagers conceived naturally and found that "no differences were detected in general and mental health of ART adolescents or cognitive ability, compared with the reference group." The researchers, who said this was the first long-term study of such children, concluded that their "preliminary results provide reassurance that in the long run, health and functioning of ART-conceived adolescents is not compromised."

One of the researchers on the study, Mark Weiser, a psychiatry professor at Tel Aviv University's Sackler School of Medicine, said in an interview that the findings should be a relief to parents who used IVF and other assisted reproductive technology. "We show there is nothing wrong with these kids" when compared with children born naturally. "This is a very positive message to parents who are not able to get pregnant on their own. If you look down the line, the kids are perfectly normal."

As for me: After an uneventful pregnancy, my daughter was born full term nearly two years ago at a healthy six pounds, six ounces, with all her fingers and toes and brown hair that would soon turn to curls. She is a delightful, chatty, feisty toddler. Every parent worries about their child, and I know that I will be no different. But for now it seems clear to me that the risks of having used IVF were minimal - and the reward huge.

Go here to read the rest:
I wasn't sure about having a 'test-tube baby' - Chicago Tribune

EXPERT ADVICE ON CAREER CHOICES

I am a science student interested in biology. I want to opt for embryology. What are the entrance exams and which is the best college for this course?

- FARHEEN SIDDIQUI

Embryology is a science of test-tube babies and in vitro fertilization is a specialised fi eld. Postgraduate courses in clinical embryology are available in a few reputed universities and institutes, and they have their own entrance procedure. To be eligible for this course, one should either have a Masters degree in life sciences, zoology, biochemistry, microbiology, applied microbiology, biotechnology, genetics or molecular biology, or an MBBS, BDS or BVSc degree. Potential employers include fertility clinics, universities, hospitals, laboratories, biotechnology fi rms, government organisations and commercial industries.

What career paths can I choose after completing my bachelors in computer science?

- AMIT KULKARNI

If you prepare well for entrance exams like CAT /SNAP/ CMAT and get a good score, you can pursue an MBA from premier institutes. You can also do a postgraduate degree or diploma in mass communication after appearing for the entrance exams. Or, you can go for a three-year law course after graduation, for which you will have to pass the Maharashtra CET. The fourth option is to prepare for competitive exams like UPSC, MPSC, staff selection commission, banking, insurance, defense services and so on.

My daughter is in Class XII (Science). She is very much interested in biology and has an aptitude for the subject. But, she does not like PCM. She will be trying to crack the NEET next year. In case she doesnt fair well, what course should she pursue? Also, are bio-medical engineering and bio-technology engineering related to biology?

- REVATI WAYKAR

Biotechnology engineering and biomedical engineering are engineering branches. Courses in them is possible only through an engineering CET / JEE entrance test. But, if your daughter is not interested in PCM, it seems a remote possibility for her. Both these courses require some biology, but the majority portions are about engineering. If your daughter doesnt get success in NEET, she can do a BSc in pure sciences botany, zoology, microbiology and so on. She can appear for the IIT entrance exam called JAM, through which she can pursue MSc courses in IITs or IISC in biology.

I have scored 60 per cent in my Class XII boards (PCM) and 50 marks in my CET exam. I feel the score is too less for admission to a good engineering college. So, I want to do BBA from a good Pune college instead. Since I was a science student, I didnt fi ll any BBA forms. How can I change my stream now?

- RIA DESHPANDE

BBA and BBA (IB) streams are available after passing Class XII from any stream. You can still fi ll up admission forms for many institutes. But, you will have to opt for MBA after BBA or BBA (IB) to get good career options. For that, you will have to start preparations for MBA entrance exams like CAT / CMAT / SNAP / CET from the 2nd year of BBA. You can also try BCA or BBA (CA), which will get you to the IT Sector.

VIVEK VELANKAR has been a noted career counsellor for over a decade

You can send your questions to punemirrorcampus@gmail.com

Read the original:
Road Ahead - Pune Mirror

Erick Gill, YourNews contributor 9:42 p.m. ET June 9, 2017

The Oxbow Eco-Center will partner with BioEYES this summer to kick-off the premier BioEYES summer camp on the Treasure Coast. This camp takes place 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. June 12-16 and is open to ages 7-14.(Photo: Erick Gill)

PORT ST. LUCIE The Oxbow Eco-Center will partner with BioEYES this summer to kick-off the premier BioEYES summer camp on the Treasure Coast.

This camp takes place from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. June 12-16 and is open to ages 7-14.

Participants get the exciting opportunity to participate in real science. The BioEYES program is a hands-on science project that transforms a static classroom into a scientific lab.

In the camp, children are appointed as junior scientists, then set off to explore live zebrafish and their life cycles. Campers will breed the fish and raise the resulting embryos until they hatch out as clear, free-swimming larvae with beating hearts that can be seen under our provided microscopes.

The camp also features activities, hikes and games that facilitate an understanding of fish habitats, watersheds and water quality and the life cycles of other species. This BioEYES camp offers children an opportunity to explore life science through real world applications. With this program activity, its curriculum covers biology, genetics, embryology and the scientific method.

The goal of BioEYES is to teach conceptual understanding of life science content and processing skills while exciting children with the thrill of scientific discovery. Currently, outreach programs have reached more than 100,000 students in Philadelphia; Baltimore; South Bend, Indiana; Melbourne, Australia; and the newest member, the Treasure Coast.

To learn more about BioEYES, visit BioEYES.org. For camp registration, please visit http://www.oxboweco.com or call 772-785-5833.

Managed by St. Lucie Countys Environmental Resources Department, the Oxbow Eco-Center is at 5400 N.E. St. James Drive in Port St. Lucie. The environmental learning center is open Tuesdays through Fridays from noon to 5 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. with more than two miles of hiking trails, which are open every day during daylight hours.

Read or Share this story: http://www.tcpalm.com/story/specialty-publications/your-news/st-lucie-county/2017/06/10/junior/385531001/

View post:
Become a junior scientist at Oxbow Eco-Center - TCPalm

Recently, the Nebraska Department of Motor Vehicles approved a license plate design proposed by Planned Parenthood -- "my body, my choice."

The inaccurate message conveyed by Planned Parenthood through the plate's message is because organism within a pregnant woman is a part of her body, it's her choice whether to abort the organism. By approving the license plate, the DMV agreed to perpetuate a falsehood.

In no stage of development is the human being within mother a part of her body. Human life begins with fertilization when sperm of male and oocyte from female unite to produce a new organism, the zygote.

Formed in the Fallopian tube, the new life travels down tube into uterus and implants into endometrial lining of uterus. Neither the fetus nor placenta is ever part of the mother. At childbirth, both baby and placenta are delivered. Any standard OB-GYN and embryology textbook will state these irrefutable, scientific and medical facts.

If baby were a part of the mother, surgery would be required in all not just C-section births. How the DMV could approve a license plate with such an inaccurate message is a puzzle. Is it a result of inaccurate information in school textbooks, from teacher(s) or misinformation from Planned Parenthood and other sources?

"My body, my choice" is just another way for Planned Parenthood to market abortion while misleading the public -- especially pregnant mothers -- into thinking unborn babies are a part of their mother. Medical science has proved otherwise.

Read the original post:
Letter, 6/10: Planned Parenthood plates mislead - Lincoln Journal Star

By Amy Klein By Amy Klein June 10 at 8:00 AM

When I first visited a fertility doctor because of pregnancy problems, I had no idea that the in vitro fertilization, or IVF, he was suggesting to help me was actually the test-tube baby technique that Id heard about, an approach that had sounded scary, like something out of science fiction.

After I educated myself and started treatment, the concerns continued: Would the hormone-stimulating drugs have adverse effects on me? What would the drugs do to the fetus? And more important, would conceiving a child outside the womb (not actually in a test tube but in an embryology lab) have any long-term effects? Most important, would my child if I would be lucky enough to give birth to one be as physically and mentally healthy as naturally conceived children?

Articles and blogs fed into my worries not to mention the online mommy boards at pregnancy and fertility websites where women trade rumors, innuendoes and fears, often based on nothing more than a friends experience.

Since the first test-tube baby, Louise Brown, was born in England in 1978, about 6.5 million children have been born worldwide with the help of assisted reproductive technologies (ART) such as IVF. So there is now enough information to address my concerns. Overall, those findings leave me pretty confident that the risks are pretty small and well worth taking if, like me, you want to have a baby but cant.

Although taking fertility medications drove me crazy some hormones gave me nightmares, others kept me up at night, and the main ones made my mind race loopily looking at studies allowed me to conclude that IVF probably has no long-term bad effects.

For instance, a 2013 study of 21,646 women in Australia concluded that there is no evidence of an increased risk of ovarian cancer following IVF in women who give birth. Another study of 9,825 American women found no link between gonadotropins the drugs I was taking to increase my egg production and ovarian cancer for women who gave birth. There was one worrisome point: Both studies found an increased cancer risk for women with resistant infertility i.e., those who did not give birth although the researchers did not know why.

A recent study in the journal JAMA of about 25,000 women who had fertility treatments between 1980 and 1995 found that those who had gone through IVF had no greater risk of getting breast cancer in the subsequent 21 years than those who used other techniques.

Whew. I went through nine rounds of IVF before I got pregnant, which means I took a lot of ovary-stimulating drugs, so these studies are reassuring.

Numerous studies and opinions from [the American Society for Reproductive Medicine] confirm low risk for ovarian and breast cancer from the use of fertility drugs, regardless of the number of IVF cycles performed, said Jeffrey Braverman, founder and medical director at Braverman IVF & Reproductive Immunology in New York.

So how about risks to the baby? Would he or she be affected by her medically assisted conception?

Two studies have raised concerns.

A 2016 study in JAMA Pediatrics found increased risk for birth defects in babies conceived through ART. The study, which involved more than 4 million infants, found that singleton infants conceived using ART were 40 percent more likely to have a nonchromosomal birth defect (such as cleft lip and/or palate or a congenital heart defect) compared with all other singleton births.

The researchers acknowledged that the study did not account for some factors related to infertility that might explain the observed increases in risk for birth defects. In other words, IVF may not have caused the defects. They recommended further research.

A comprehensive review of a group of other studies suggested that the risk for developmental disabilities was greater with ART which, in addition to IVF, includes egg freezing and surrogacy than with natural childbirth. The review examined studies of IVF and autism, cerebral palsy, intellectual disability, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and sensory impairment, among others, and found conflicting information, no correlation or that the disabilities could have been caused by other factors such as preterm birth.

And a study published in March found an increased risk of neoplasms tumors that can be benign or malignant in children born through ART.

But I focused on a study that followed children conceived with ART into their teenage years. It offers a much more reassuring view. The study, published in January, compared 253 16- and 17-year-olds who were conceived with fertility treatments to a cohort of teenagers conceived naturally and found that no differences were detected in general and mental health of ART adolescents or cognitive ability, compared with the reference group. The researchers, who said this was the first long-term study of such children, concluded that their preliminary results provide reassurance that in the long run, health and functioning of ART-conceived adolescents is not compromised.

One of the researchers on the study, Mark Weiser, a psychiatry professor at Tel Aviv Universitys Sackler School of Medicine, said in an interview that the findings should be a relief to parents who used IVF and other assisted reproductive technology. We show there is nothing wrong with these kids when compared with children born naturally. This is a very positive message to parents who are not able to get pregnant on their own. If you look down the line, the kids are perfectly normal.

As for me: After an uneventful pregnancy, my daughter was born full term nearly two years ago at a healthy six pounds, six ounces, with all her fingers and toes and brown hair that would soon turn to curls. She is a delightful, chatty, feisty toddler. Every parent worries about their child, and I know that I will be no different. But for now it seems clear to me that the risks of having used IVF were minimal and the reward huge.

Originally posted here:
I had a 'test-tube baby.' Did I have to worry about health problems for ... - Washington Post