Children of Assisted Reproductive Technology Face Genetic Health Risks

by Rajshri on  February 22, 2010 at 7:01 PM Genetics & Stem Cells News
  •   Print
  •   Share
  •   Comments
  •  Text 
Since the birth of the first "test tube baby" in 1978, more than three million children have been born as a result of assisted reproductive technologies.

While the majority of these children are healthy and normal, as a group they are at greater risk of certain kinds of birth defects and being low birth weight, which is associated with obesity, hypertension and type 2 diabetes later in life.

Carmen Sapienza, a geneticist at Temple University School of Medicine, studies the impact of the environment on genes by comparing one type of chromosome modification, called "DNA methylation" between children conceived in the traditional fashion with children born as a result of assisted reproduction.

"We found that 5-10 percent of these chromosome modifications were different in children born through assisted reproduction, and this altered the expression of nearby genes," he said. "But we have not yet distinguished whether this is caused by assisted reproductive technologies or other factors such as the couple's infertility."

Because some of the affected genes are involved in the development of fat tissue and the metabolism of glucose, Sapienza believes it will be important to monitor these children long-term to determine whether they have higher rates of obesity or diabetes.

He notes that even though there were measurable differences in DNA methylation and gene expression between the two groups, only a small fraction of the assisted reproduction children were found to be outside the "normal" range.



Source-Eurekalert
RAS

 Email Email   RSS Feeds RSS Feeds   Print this page Print   Save this page Save   Link Link   Syndicate Syndicate   Comments Comments   Bookmark and Share
 
Comment & Contribute
Comments should be on the topic and should not be abusive. Comments are normally moderated and are reviewed after they are posted.
* Your comment can be maximum of 2500 characters

Notify me when reply is posted
I agree to the terms and conditions
  
If you have a question about health related issues, you can now post it in our Ask An Expert section on our community website Medwonders.com and get answers from our panel of experts.
X

Medwonders Health Network

  • Health News Index
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
News Archive
Date :
Category :
Keyword :
  • News Quick Links
News Central Health Watch
Latest Health News Health In Focus
News Category (500+) Breaking Health News
Popular News Celebrating Life
Health News and Press Release Medindia - Exclusive
News Photo Gallery India Special
News Video Gallery Lifestyle and Wellness
News From Other Resources
News Categories:  
Diabetes Health Center

Genetics & Stem Cells Related News

» Gene Behind Chronic Inflammation Accelerated Aging and Cancer Identified » Discovery Of Male Fertility Genes
» Disease Risk Prediction may Not be Improved by Genetic Information » Scientists Map Gene Sequence of Drug Resistant VRSA
» Marker in Premies' Saliva Predicts Readiness to Feed by Mouth » Recovery From MS Maybe With Growth Factor In Stem Cells
» 'Rare' Genetic Variants are Surprisingly Common: Report Life Scientists » Genetic Test Results Do Not Trigger Increased Use of Health Services: NIH-Led Study
Read More >>