Human Females Menstruate to Eliminate Unviable Fetuses

From a female perspective, pregnancy is always a huge investment. Even more so if her species has a hemochorial placenta. Once that placenta is in place, she not only loses full control of her own hormones, she also risks hemorrhage when it comes out. So it makes sense that females want to screen embryos very, very carefully. Going through pregnancy with a weak, inviable or even sub-par fetus isn't worth it. That's where the endometrium comes in. You've probably read about how the endometriu...

 Exercise Releases Brain-Healthy Proteins

We all know that exercise is important for a strong and healthy body. Less appreciated is that exercise seems also to be important for a strong and healthy mind, boosting memory and learning, while possibly delaying age-related cognitive decline [1]. How is this so? Researchers have assembled a growing body of evidence that suggests skeletal muscle cells secrete proteins and other factors into the blood during exercise that have a regenerative effect on the brain. Now, an NIH-supported study...

 Resveratrol and SIRT1

For the last decade, the science of aging has increasingly focused on sirtuins, a group of genes that are believed to protect many organisms, including mammals, against diseases of aging. Mounting evidence has demonstrated that resveratrol, a compound found in the skin of grapes as well as in peanuts and berries, increases the activity of a specific sirtuin, SIRT1, that protects the body from diseases by revving up the mitochondria, a kind of cellular battery that slowly runs down as we age. ...

 Nogo receptor 1 Key to a Plastic Mind

Formation of lasting memories is believed to rely on structural alterations at the synaptic level. We had found that increased neuronal activity down-regulates Nogo receptor-1 (NgR1) in brain regions linked to memory formation and storage, and postulated this to be required for formation of lasting memories. We now show that mice with inducible overexpression of NgR1 in forebrain neurons have normal long-term potentiation and normal 24-h memory, but severely impaired month-long memory in both...

 Experiment Demonstrating Plants Produce Breathable Air

When air has been freshly and strongly tainted with putrefaction, so as to smell through the water, sprigs of mint have presently died, upon being put into it, their leaves turning black; but if they do not die presently, they thrive in a most surprizing manner. In no other circumstances have I ever seen vegetation so vigorous as in this kind of air, which is immediately fatal to animal life. Though these plants have been crouded in jars filled with this air, every leaf has been full of life;...

 The Discover of Bisphenol A's Deleterious Effects on Embryos

In fact, an early clue to the potential risks posed by plastic was discovered entirely by accident. In August of 1998, Washington State University geneticist Patricia Hunt found herself baffled by an unexpected development in her lab. Hunt was using experiments on lab mice to explore why the eggs of older women are more likely to produce children with chromosomal abnormalities such as Down syndrome. The research was coming along well when suddenly the eggs of her control animals—the normal,...

 Phytochemical Exposure Prevents Cancer in Mice

Williams’s experiments have shown that the offspring of mice who ingest a phytochemical derived from cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, cabbage, and brussels sprouts during pregnancy were much less likely to get cancer, even when exposed to a known carcinogen. The same is true of the offspring of mice who were given green tea during pregnancy. After they were weaned, the offspring in William’s experiments never encountered these protective chemicals again, yet their exposure during pre...