Pregnancy News and Research

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Study Identifies a Brain Pathway That Drives Maternal Reward and Bonding

New research has found a hormone is responsible for making mothers' interactions with newborns feel rewarding rather than just necessary.

23 Jul 2026

New Research Explains How Toxoplasma Parasite Bookmarks Its Genes

A parasite carried by billions of people worldwide often causes harmful infections during pregnancy, in immunocompromised individuals, and is the cause of a leading infectious blindness in South America.

22 Jul 2026

Female Hearts Rely on Molecular Safeguard to Avoid Failure

Men and women are not born with the same risk of heart disease, and for decades scientists have struggled to explain why. A new study from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, published in Genes & Development, offers a striking answer: the female heart depends on a molecular safeguard that the male heart can largely do without - and when that safeguard is removed, female hearts fail while male hearts keep beating.

20 Jul 2026

Crucial X Chromosome Protein Protects Female Hearts From Fatal Failure

Men and women are not born with the same risk of heart disease, and for decades scientists have struggled to explain why.

17 Jul 2026

Unique Odors Help Naked Mole Rat Queens Stop Power Struggles

Imagine the following scenario: A head of state enters a room and emits a scent that prevents potential rivals from even considering challenging them.

16 Jul 2026

Researchers Link Prenatal Fructose Exposure to Reduced Adult Neurogenesis

Nutritional imbalance during pregnancy can have long-lasting effects on the health status and disease susceptibility of the offspring.

3 Jul 2026

Single Breast Milk Molecule Reprograms Infant Immune Cells

Trans-vaccenic acid (TVA), the most abundant trans fatty acid found in human breast milk, helps boost immune system development and has long-lasting effects on immune system health in mice, according to a new study by researchers from the University of Chicago.

1 Jul 2026

Maternal Diet Fatty Acid Enriches Long Term Offspring Immune Health

19 Jun 2026

New Cell Therapy Modifies Natural Killer Cells Against Cancer

Scientists have made great progress in harnessing the body's own immune cells to treat so-called liquid tumors, cancers of the blood and lymphatic system.

11 Jun 2026

Scientists Identify Epigenetic Mechanism Behind Lifelong Maternal Brain Modifications

Becoming a mother changes the brain not just temporarily, but for life.

5 Jun 2026

Study Shows How AI and Single Cell Science are Changing Modern Medicine

Recent technological advances have pushed the boundaries of cellular biology far beyond what was conceivable even decades ago

4 Jun 2026

Live-Imaging Techniques Reveal How Stem Cells Collectively Suppress Tumors

It all starts with a single cell.

2 Jun 2026

Identifying a Genetic Switch That Halts Human Nerve Regeneration

Researchers at Cambridge have created tiny circuits in the lab that replicate the connections between the brain and spinal cord, which control human movements.

29 May 2026

Stem Cell Model Reveals Mechanics of Early Human Embryo Development

For the first time, a stem cell model has produced a structure resembling an early human embryo with a yolk-sac-like structure, from a single starting stem cell population and without direct genetic manipulation.

21 Apr 2026

Physics Explains How Neural Tube Closure Occurs in Embryos

In about one out of every 1,000 pregnancies, the neural tube, a key nervous system structure, fails to close properly.

21 Apr 2026

Largest Genetic Study Reveals New Biological Clues for Severe Pregnancy Sickness

The USC research team that recently identified the hormone-encoding gene GDF15 as a key driver of pregnancy sickness has identified 9 additional genes linked to its most severe form, hyperemesis gravidarum (HG).

15 Apr 2026

Early Epigenetic Changes and Gut Microbiome Interact to Shape Neurodevelopment

The gut microbiome and epigenetics-molecular switches that turn genes on or off-are intertwined, and both contribute to neurodevelopment, finds a study publishing April 10 in the Cell Press journal Cell Press Blue.

13 Apr 2026

Single-Cell Mapping Uncovers Insights Into Pregnancy Complications

The biological connection between a pregnant woman and her developing baby has been mapped in unprecedented detail by UC San Francisco scientists, revealing new cell types and insights into conditions such as preeclampsia, preterm birth, and miscarriage.

9 Apr 2026

Biodegradable Plastic Byproducts Impair Fetal Growth in Mouse Study

When the "eco-friendly" bioplastic, polylactic acid (PLA), biodegrades, the resulting nanoplastics can accumulate in the fetuses of pregnant mice and interfere with fetal growth. Yichao Huang and De-Xiang Xu of Anhui Medical University, China, and Mingliang Fang of Fudan University, China, report these findings in a new study published March 26th in the open-access journal PLOS Biology.

28 Mar 2026

Microgravity Negatively Impacts Sperm Navigation

Having a baby in space may require a bit more direction, with new Adelaide University research revealing the navigational abilities of sperm are negatively impacted by a lack of gravity.

27 Mar 2026