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Category: biotech/medical – Page 2,696

IVF children at far greater risk of dangerous high blood pressure, study suggests

Children born through IVF are six times more likely to suffer high blood pressure than naturally conceived children, putting them at greater risk of heart attacks and strokes, new research suggests.

In a study of 96 youngsters, researchers in the Switzerland found one in seven teenagers who were born through assisted reproduction had clinically high blood pressure by the age of 16, compared with just 2.3 per cent of those born naturally.

Around 20,000 babies are born through IVF in Britain each year. But the oldest test-tube baby — Louise Brown — is only 40 years old, so the long term impact of fertility treatment is still unknown.

Artificial cells are tiny bacteria fighters

“Lego block” artificial cells that can kill bacteria have been created by researchers at the University of California, Davis Department of Biomedical Engineering. The work is reported Aug. 29 in the journal ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces.

“We engineered from the bottom-up – like Lego blocks – to destroy ,” said Assistant Professor Cheemeng Tan, who led the work. The are built from liposomes, or bubbles with a cell-like lipid membrane, and purified cellular components including proteins, DNA and metabolites.

“We demonstrated that artificial cells can sense, react and interact with bacteria, as well as function as systems that both detect and kill bacteria with little dependence on their environment,” Tan said.

Realize the Promise of Gene-Edited Crops

A far better approach, then, is the middle course. Rather than prejudge the products of biotechnology, regulators should screen new plants and single out those that might need special monitoring or restrictions. In the U.S., the Food and Drug Administration does something similar on a voluntary basis for foods made from plants with engineered proteins. Companies submit data about their new products, and if the FDA decides it has no further questions, they can claim their foods are “generally recognized as safe.”

Europe and the U.S. should avoid an all-or-nothing approach to regulating plants made with Crispr.

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