Thursday 1 October 2015

No Womb


Interesting news that the go-ahead to attempt 10 womb implants to women who lack the organ have been given (http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/sep/29/10-women-receive-go-ahead-for-first-ever-womb-transplants-in-uk). This seems to be a consequence of some apparently successful Swedish trials, apparently involving donor relatives. In the case of the UK studies, the wombs will come from deceased individuals and there will have to be some basic matching. The idea is to take eggs from the recipient's ovary and to attempt a maximum of two in vivo fertilisation processes before removing the womb. The reason for this is that the women will have to receive immunosuppressive drugs to prevent the rejection of the donated organ (these are a health hazard as they reduce general disease resistance). I suspect that it is low on people's list of priorities (when what they want is a baby) but I wonder if they have taken into account a substantial body of evidence suggesting that these drugs can have profound behavioural effects on the developing foetus? 

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What's In a Critter's Name? 11. Comma butterfly

The Comma butterfly ( Polygonia c-album) gets its name from the punctuation-like mark, on the underside of its wings.