Features
Uterus Transplants Hit the Clinic
Jef Akst | Aug 1, 2021 | 10+ min read
With human research trials resulting in dozens of successful deliveries in the US and abroad, doctors move toward offering the surgery clinically, while working to learn all they can about uterine and transplant biology from the still-rare procedure.
The Role of Mom’s Microbes During Pregnancy
Carolyn A. Thomson and Kathy D. McCoy | Aug 1, 2021 | 10+ min read
Bacteria in the gut influence the production of antibodies and themselves secrete metabolites. In a pregnant woman, these compounds may influence immune development of her fetus.
Contributors
Contributors
Contributors
Meet some of the people featured in the August 2021 issue of The Scientist.
Editorial
A New View of My Own Past
A New View of My Own Past
Hearing others’ perspectives on infertility and pregnancy has me reconsidering my own reproductive journey.
Speaking of Science
Ten Minute Sabbatical
Ten Minute Sabbatical
Take a break from the bench to puzzle and peruse.
Critic at Large
Opinion: Treating Infertility as a Disease
Opinion: Treating Infertility as a Disease
For too long, a physiological inability to conceive or carry a child through to birth has been seen as a minor medical issue.
Notebook
Study Looks for Effects of Fetal Exposure to Air Pollution
Study Looks for Effects of Fetal Exposure to Air Pollution
By measuring various pollutants in the immediate vicinity of pregnant women and tracking brain development of their children, researchers in Barcelona aim to untangle any influence the former has on the latter.
Researchers Head to the Hills to Study Pregnancy
Researchers Head to the Hills to Study Pregnancy
High altitude is a natural laboratory for investigating pregnancy complications, such as preeclampsia and gestational hypertension, that restrict a fetus’s oxygen supply.
The Literature
Fat Tissue Reorganizes During Pregnancy
Fat Tissue Reorganizes During Pregnancy
Researchers identify a protein that promotes changes in adipose tissue in vitro and in pregnant mice and may help protect against gestational diabetes in humans.
Exercising During Pregnancy Protects Mouse Offspring
Exercising During Pregnancy Protects Mouse Offspring
Obese mice that exercised while pregnant gave birth to pups that grew up free of the metabolic issues present in the adult young of sedentary obese mothers—possibly by staving off epigenetic changes to a key metabolic gene.
Gene Offers Clue to How Human Labor Starts
Gene Offers Clue to How Human Labor Starts
Genes associated with preterm birth and protecting the fetus from the mother’s immune system appear to be regulated by HAND2.
Scientist to Watch
Darby Saxbe Digs into Relationships’ Effects on Human Biology
Darby Saxbe Digs into Relationships’ Effects on Human Biology
In her current work, the University of Southern California psychologist is examining how the transition to fatherhood affects men’s brains.
Careers
Push to Address Long-Standing Challenges for Parents in STEMM
Push to Address Long-Standing Challenges for Parents in STEMM
The organizers behind a Mothers in Science conference say that it’s time academia provide more support to researchers who are pregnant or looking after children.
Reading Frames
Opinion: How Biomedicine Could Transform Human Reproduction
Opinion: How Biomedicine Could Transform Human Reproduction
CRISPR and other innovations are likely to open up a wealth of new options for how people have children.
Foundations
Birth of Midwifery, Circa 100 CE
Birth of Midwifery, Circa 100 CE
Soranus of Ephesus’s manual shaped the way midwifery was practiced for more than a millennium.
Infographics
Infographic: How Pregnancy Changes Fat Tissue
Infographic: How Pregnancy Changes Fat Tissue
Researchers propose a mechanism by which a protein produced in the placenta may trigger blood vessel growth and enlarge fat cells.
Infographic: Research Questions to Be Tackled by Uterus Transplants
Infographic: Research Questions to Be Tackled by Uterus Transplants
Scientists are banking various samples from recipients of donated uteruses to learn all they can about the biology of the organ, and about transplantation more generally.
Infographic: Maternal Microbiota Has Lasting Effects on Offspring
Infographic: Maternal Microbiota Has Lasting Effects on Offspring
Work in rodents shows that the bacteria living in a mother’s gut can produce immunomodulatory metabolites and influence the production of maternal antibodies—both of which can affect her offspring’s development.