Gene Variants May Determine Lung Function and Susceptibility to Maternal Smoking
A tiny variation within a single gene can determine not only how quickly and well lungs grow and function in children and adolescents, but how susceptible those children will be to exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke, even in utero.

Mosaic analysis of stem cell function and wound healing in the mouse corneal epithelium
The mouse corneal epithelium is a continuously renewing 5–6 cell thick protective layer covering the corneal surface, which regenerates rapidly when injured.

Making a face: A new and earlier marker of neural crest development
The fate of cells that go on to form the face, skull and nerve centers of the head and neck in vertebrates is determined much earlier in development than previously thought, and is independent of interaction with other forming tissues

A crucial role for TGFbeta signaling in congenital eye disorders
The lens in the developing eye acts as a TGFbeta signaling center that controls differentiation, survival and formation of multiple eye structures deriving from the neural crest.

Large DNA stretches, not single genes, shut off as cells mature
Epigenetic finding adds insight on how cells become brain, liver -- and malignant

First evidence that prenatal exposure to famine may lead to persistent epigenetic changes
A study suggests that prenatal exposure to famine can lead to epigenetic changes that may affect a person's health into midlife.

Concerns raised over policy to add folic acid to flour
A UK Department of Health committee has now recommended universal fortification of flour with folic acid to reduce the level of neural tube defects. Yet researchers warn that we need to be cautious before introducing such a policy.

Scientists discover why teeth form in a single row
Same study uncovers how each tooth signals the next to start growing

Fortifying food with folic acid benefits babies
Adding folic acid to food can dramatically reduce the incidence of spina bifida and other birth defects.

DNA gene chips and novel software used to describe kidney development
The step-by-step development of a mammalian kidney, from its early beginnings in the embryo to its adult role as a vital filtration system, has been described by UCSD School of Medicine researchers

Cloned stem cells prove identical to fertilized stem cells
Scientists generally agree that all cloned animals are biologically flawed. But they don't agree about what that means for stem cells derived from cloned embryos, the basis for therapeutic cloning.

Genetic interplay between the transcription factors Sp8 and Emx2 in the patterning of the forebrain
The authors show that the transcription factor Sp8 has an essential role in the molecular and functional patterning of the developing telencephalon along the anteroposterior axis by modulating the expression gradients of Emx2 and Pax6.

Most embryos produced during IVF do not result in live births
Researchers have found that 85 percent of embryos transferred during in vitro fertilization fail to become live births.

Reseachers find evidence that prenatal use of ecstasy can cause long-term memory loss and other impairments in offspring
Researchers today reported the first evidence that a mother’s use of MDMA (ecstasy) during pregnancy may result in specific types of long-term learning and memory impairments in her offspring.

UCSD Biologists Discover Chemical Important In Guiding Visual System Development
Neurobiologists have discovered a chemical responsible for the bursts of electrical activity in the brain that guide the development of the visual system

Study Shows Ingredient Commonly Found In Shampoos May Inhibit Brain Development
An ingredient found in many shampoos and other personal care products appears to interfere with normal brain development in baby mice when applied to the skin of pregnant mice,

Ovarian stimulation in mice adversely affects embryo development and implantation
They found an adverse effect of superovulation on embryo quality.

A role for rhoB in the delamination of neural crest cells from the dorsal neural tube
In this study, the authors attempted to identify additional
molecules that might participate in the early steps of neural
crest differentiation.

Tracking mesoderm induction and its specification to the hemangioblast during embryonic stem cell differentiation
The authors have established a model system with which to study the development of mesoderm and its specification to the hematopoietic and vascular lineages after ES cell differentiation in culture.

Embryonic Stem Cells: Prospects for Developmental Biology and Cell Therapy
This review focuses both on mouse and human ES cells with respect to in vitro propagation and differentiation as well as their use in basic cell and developmental biology and toxicology...