Observations of a link between pregnant woman and fetus, and speculation on its nature abound throughout history, literature, and across cultures. Despite the ubiquity of the phenomenon, relatively little is known about the manner in which the development of the fetus is influenced by the maternal psychological context. Scientific inquiry into the nature of this relationship has been historical...

Background: Toxoplasma gondii is an important zoonotic pathogen. Vertical transmission of the parasite occurs when females were infected primarily during gestation. This parasite transmitted to the fetus through the placenta and may cause miscarriage, permanent neurological damage, premature birth and visual impairment. Materials and Methods: Two 6-8-week NMRI females mice were crossed with one...

Fetal liver Abelson pre-B cell lines obtained from CBA/Tufts.xid and (CBA/Tufts.xid x CBA/Tufts)F1 mice have complete VDJH rearrangements on at least one allele. Such high frequencies of VDJH rearrangements have previously been observed in adult derived but not fetal liver derived Abelson pre-B cell lines. Genetic analyses suggest that CBA/Tufts.xid carries an autosomal dominant gene(s) that de...

Human confined placental mosaicism (CPM), where the placental trophoblast is mosaic for a chromosome abnormality but the fetus is chromosomally normal, can cause problems for prenatal diagnosis, but its causes are poorly understood. Tetraploid<-->diploid chimeras provide a model for the development of one type of CPM, but animal models for other types of restricted mosaicism are needed. The obj...

A defining feature of mammals is the development in utero of the fetus supported by the constant flow of nutrients from the mother obtained via a specialized organ: the placenta. The placenta is also a major endocrine organ that synthesizes vast quantities of hormones and cytokines to instruct both maternal and fetal physiology. Nearly 20 years ago, David Haig and colleagues proposed that place...

introduction: to improve the development of embryo in vitro several attempts have been made, including the application of leukemia inhibitory factor (lif). this factor plays an important role in embryo development and has been shown to enhance in vitro development rate in sheep and mice. there is controversy regarding the effect of lif on the different stages of embryo development. the aim of t...

In men, sexual orientation correlates with an individual's number of older brothers, each additional older brother increasing the odds of homosexuality by approximately 33%. It has been hypothesized that this fraternal birth order effect reflects the progressive immunization of some mothers to Y-linked minor histocompatibility antigens (H-Y antigens) by each succeeding male fetus and the concom...