Painkillers and fertility
In 2001, 8.5 per cent of boys born in Denmark had undescended testicles – which affects sperm quality. They were 1.4 times as likely to have the disorder if their mothers took painkillers while pregnant than if they didn’t (Human Reproduction, DOI: 10.1093/humrep/deq323).
Blood from skin
Skin cells have been turned directly into blood cells for the first time. This could one day make bone marrow transplants obsolete, as bone marrow cells could be made using a similar technique from a patient’s own skin cells. Exposure of skin cells to OCT4, a protein for switching on blood…
