Stem Cell :: ACT Applauds NIH Plan to Implement President Bush’s Stem Cell Executive Order

On Tuesday, September 18, 2007, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced that it would begin implementing President George W. Bush’s Executive Order to explore methods to expand the number of approved pluripotent stem cell lines “without creating a human embryo for research purposes or destroying, discarding, or subjecting to harm a human embryo or fetus.”

Pregnancy :: Researchers test old drug with new hopes for pre-eclampsia cure

Researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston are trying to determine whether a drug already available to heart patients can also be used to delay delivery in expectant mothers with severe pre-eclampsia. If so, this groundbreaking study would give hope to hundreds of thousands of women who experience this life-threatening disorder each year.

Pregnancy :: Study identifies warning signs of pregnancy danger

Warnings signs such as increased stress could indicate that pregnancy-induced hypertension is reaching life-threatening levels, found Temple University researcher Kathleen Black, DNSc, RNC, the author of a study in the September/October issue of the Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic, & Neonatal Nursing.

Bacteria :: New light-sensing ability discovered in disease-causing bacteria

The bacteria that cause brucellosis can sense light and use the information to regulate their virulence, according to a study in the August 24 issue of the journal Science. The discovery comes after 120 years of research into the disease, which causes abortions in livestock and fevers in humans. Researchers found that two other bacteria, including a species that attacks plants, sense light using the same type of protein structure, and at least 94 more species possess the code for it in their DNA.

Pregnancy :: Lower Cesarean rates associated with preventive labor induction

At a time when national rates of cesarean delivery have climbed above 30%, a four-year study of patients receiving an alternative method of obstetric care experienced a significantly lower rate of cesarean births, according to a study published in the current issue of the Annals of Family Medicine.