Birth Defects News

June 3, 2025

Top Headlines

Molecular Link Between Air Pollution and Pregnancy Risks

June 3, 2025 — A new study found exposure to specific tiny particles in air pollution during pregnancy are associated with increased risk of various negative birth ...

Why After 2000 Years We Still Don't Know How Tickling Works

May 27, 2025 — How come you can't tickle yourself? And why can some people handle tickling perfectly fine while others scream their heads off? Neuroscientists argue that we should take tickle research more ...

Tiny Genetic Switch Found to Control Brain Balance and Behavior

May 22, 2025 — Researchers have identified a remarkably small but critical piece of genetic code that helps determine how brain cells connect, communicate, and function. The discovery not only deepens our understanding of how the brain's wiring is built but may ...

Researchers Identify a Dual Origin of Cells Controlling Puberty and Reproduction

May 21, 2025 — Researchers have shown that gonadotrophs, cells in the pituitary gland with a key role in puberty and reproduction, come from two different populations, with the majority produced after birth rather ...

Latest Headlines

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Good News for People With Migraine Who Take Drugs Before or During Pregnancy

May 21, 2025 — There's good news for people with migraine who take common drugs before or during pregnancy -- a new study found no increase in neurodevelopmental ...

A Step Forward in Treating Serious Genetic Disorders Prenatally

May 14, 2025 — Evidence is mounting that clinicians can treat serious genetic disorders prenatally by injecting medicine into the amniotic fluid, thus preventing damage that begins in ...

How Do Middle-Aged Folks Get Dementia? It Could Be These Proteins

May 16, 2025 — Dementia usually affects older people, so when it occurs in middle age, it can be hard to recognize. The most common form is frontotemporal dementia (FTD), which is often mistaken for depression, ...

Marfan Syndrome Increases Risk of Brain Alterations

May 15, 2025 — A study reveals that inflammation associated with Marfan syndrome increases vulnerability to neurological diseases and complications following strokes, as demonstrated in animal ...

Improved Model System Allows Researchers to Study Embryo Development

May 15, 2025 — Research improves upon a popular experimental model of mammal development and in doing so, reveals more of the inner workings of a critical period during the formation of an ...

Scientists Film the Heart Forming in 3D Earlier Than Ever Before

May 13, 2025 — Researchers have identified the origin of cardiac cells using 3D images of a heart forming in real-time, inside a living mouse ...

Unique Model of Rare Epileptic Disease Helps Pinpoint Potential Treatment Route

May 8, 2025 — Scientists have developed a cortical organoid model for UBA5-associated encephalopathy, revealing a new way to possibly address developmental ...

Evidence Review Raises Concern About Cannabis Use in Pregnancy

May 5, 2025 — A systematic evidence review finds that consuming cannabis while pregnant appears to increase the odds of preterm birth, low birth weight and infant ...

How Is Handedness Linked to Neurological Disorders?

May 5, 2025 — The fact that left-handedness resp. mixed-handedness are strikingly common in patients with certain neurological disorders such as autism spectrum disorders is a frequently reported observation in ...

Designer Microbe Shows Promise for Reducing Mercury Absorption from Seafood

May 1, 2025 — Scientists inserted DNA-encoding methylmercury detoxification enzymes into the genome of an abundant human gut bacterium. The engineered bacterium detoxified methylmercury in the gut of mice and ...

A Protein Link Between Brain Diseases and Leaky Blood Vessels

Apr. 30, 2025 — Reduced levels of a critical protein are linked to devastating brain diseases like Alzheimer's, frontotemporal dementia, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Surprisingly, the protein ...

Gene Circuits Enable More Precise Control of Gene Therapy

Apr. 28, 2025 — To help achieve more precise control of gene therapy, engineers have designed a new control circuit that can keep gene expression levels within a target range. The method could be used to deliver ...

New Study Reveals How Cleft Lip and Cleft Palate Can Arise

Apr. 17, 2025 — Biologists have discovered that disruptions in transfer RNA function can lead to the development of cleft lip and cleft ...

Gestational Diabetes Linked to ADHD in Children

Apr. 14, 2025 — A new study has found children born to mothers who experienced gestational diabetes (GDM) during pregnancy are more likely to develop attention-deficient hyperactive disorder (ADHD) and externalizing ...

New Genetic Cause of Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Apr. 10, 2025 — A seminal study has uncovered a new genetic cause of neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs). The discovery offers both closure and hope to potentially thousands of families worldwide who have long been ...

Researchers Identify Growing List of Genetic Disorders Treatable Before or Immediately After Birth

Apr. 9, 2025 — Researchers have identified nearly 300 genetic disorders that can be treated before or immediately after a baby is born. This 'treatable fetal findings list' could improve the diagnosis of ...

Groundbreaking Study Reveals Changes in Brain Cell Composition and Gene Activity in Tourette Syndrome

Apr. 8, 2025 — In the first comprehensive, cell-by-cell analysis of brain tissue from individuals with Tourette syndrome, researchers have pinpointed exactly which cells are perturbed and how they malfunction, ...

One in 3,000 People at Risk of Punctured Lung from Faulty Gene -- Almost 100 Times Higher Than Previous Estimate

Apr. 7, 2025 — As many as one in 3,000 people could be carrying a faulty gene that significantly increases their risk of a punctured lung, according to new estimates. Previous estimates had put this risk closer to ...

Brain's Own Repair Mechanism: New Neurons May Reverse Damage in Huntington's Disease

Apr. 7, 2025 — New research shows that the adult brain can generate new neurons that integrate into key motor circuits, findings that may point to a new way to treat neurogenerative ...

New Brain Organoid Model

Apr. 2, 2025 — Organoids have revolutionized science and medicine, providing platforms for disease modeling, drug testing, and understanding developmental processes. While not exact replicas of human organs, they ...

Using Everyday Products During Pregnancy Can Affect Newborn's Metabolism, Study Finds

Apr. 2, 2025 — A newly published study found that a mother's exposure to phthalates during pregnancy can affect their newborn's metabolism and brain development. These widely used plasticizers are ...

Early Signs of Heart Problems Linked to Smaller Brain Volumes

Mar. 26, 2025 — People who have early signs of heart problems may also have changes in brain health that can be early signs of dementia, such as loss of brain volume, according to a meta-analysis. The meta-analysis ...

Could an Arthritis Drug Unlock Lasting Relief from Epilepsy and Seizures? Promising Results in Mice

Mar. 25, 2025 — A drug typically prescribed for arthritis halts brain-damaging seizures in mice that have a condition like epilepsy, according to researchers. If the drug proves viable for human patients, it would ...

Embryo Development Holds Key to Healthy Lifestyles

Mar. 18, 2025 — Researchers have discovered that the earliest days of embryo development have a measurable impact on a person's future health and ...

Re-Purposed FDA-Approved Drug Could Help Treat High-Grade Glioma

Mar. 13, 2025 — A study shows that high-grade glioma tumor cells harboring DNA alterations in the gene PDGFRA responded to the drug avapritinib, which is already approved by the United States Food and Drug ...

Study Pinpoints the Impact of Prenatal Stress Across 27 Weeks of Pregnancy

Mar. 10, 2025 — Researchers found new insights on the timing of prenatal stress and its effect on infant stress reactivity and temperament -- including differences between ...

Prenatal Maternal Stressors Linked to Higher Blood Pressure During First Year After Birth, Study Shows

Mar. 4, 2025 — Psychosocial stress during pregnancy could lead to higher blood pressure during the first year postpartum according to new ...

School Absence Patterns Could ID Children With Chronic GI Disorders, Research Suggests

Mar. 4, 2025 — Children who frequently miss school because of abdominal complaints are far more likely to be suffering from chronic disorders such as irritable bowel syndrome than diseases that can be detected with ...

Strong Link Between Western Diet During Pregnancy and ADHD

Mar. 3, 2025 — New research reveals that a mother's diet during pregnancy -- characterized by a Western dietary pattern high in fat and sugar and low in fresh ingredients -- may increase the risk of ...

One Gene Variant Is Poised to Cure a Devastating Inherited Disease

Feb. 27, 2025 — For more than 15 years, a pulmonologist has tried to understand the random path of devastation that a rare genetic condition carves through the families it ...