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Summary: Scientists have looked at all 14,500 participants in Children of the 90s and found that if a girl's maternal grandmother smoked during pregnancy, the girl is 67 percent more likely to display certain traits linked to autism, such as poor social communication skills and repetitive behaviors. Scientists from the University of Bristol have looked at all 14,500 participants in Children of the 90s and found that if a girl's maternal grandmother smoked during pregnancy, the girl is 67% more likely to display certain traits linked to autism, such as poor social communication skills and repetitive behaviours. The team also found that if the maternal grandmother smoked, this increased by 53% the risk of her grandchildren having a diagnosed autism spectrum disorder (ASD). These discoveries suggest that if a female is exposed to cigarette smoke while she is still in the womb, it could affect the developing eggs -- causing changes that may eventually affect the develo...

Source: Salk Institute Summary: A new technique, which allows scientists to generate both embryonic and non-embryonic tissues from cultured stem cells, is a step toward growing donor organs and replacement tissues to combat aging and diseases. Human EPS cells (green) can be detected in both the embryonic part (left) and extra-embryonic parts (placenta and yolk sac, right) of a mouse embryo. Credit: Salk Institute When scientists talk about laboratory stem cells being totipotent or pluripotent, they mean that the cells have the potential, like an embryo, to develop into any type of tissue in the body. What totipotent stem cells can do that pluripotent ones can't do, however, is develop into tissues that support the embryo, like the placenta. These are called extra-embryonic tissues, and are vital in development and healthy growth. Now, scientists at the Salk Institute, in collaboration with researchers from Peking University, in China, are repor...