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• Morning News: Rare Baby Gorilla Born in D.C.

  Upstaging the President-Elect and his little inauguration is an as-yet unnamed, as-yet, unsexed baby gorilla.  Born to experienced mother, Mandara, the baby is a welcome arrival to a population of animals considered critically endangered.  More photos and a link to a video of mother and baby after the cut. You know what I found odd about this story, though?  Apparently, the zookeepers usually feed Mandara birth control pills.I can see that you wouldn't want babies born too close together, but her next one up is seven.  Odd to me that they would use birth control for an endangered animal.  But what do I know?  Maybe gorillas nurse until they're six.  Anyone out there a primatologist? Read More... Posted Jan 12 2009, 09:33 AM by Shannon LC Cate with | with 6 comment(s) Filed under: baby animals, zoos, gorillas, FDA approval, Shannon LC Cate, prenatal screening, spectrum disorders

• Critical Health Information or Designer Babies? Where Will New Genetic Testing Lead?

  As prenatal DNA tests become better and more widely available many worry that their benefits are outweighed by their dangers.  A lengthy article in the Washington Post takes up this discussion in some depth.  It seems that while new and better testing at the level of DNA is a great tool to help women carrying pregnancies in risky circumstances (advanced maternal age, previous history of genetically abnormal pregnancies or births, unclear ultrasound results, etc.) some ethicists still fear the tests could be misused. Read More... Posted Oct 27 2008, 03:00 PM by Shannon LC Cate with | with no comments Filed under: Designer Babies, Bioethics, prenatal testing, abortion, genetics, health insurance, DNA, Shannon LC Cate, prenatal screening, disability rights

• In Which I Find Myself in Rare Agreement with Sarah Palin (sort of)

  Researchers at Stanford University are working on a new prenatal screen for Down's Syndrome that would be based on a maternal blood test rather than amniocentesis, taking the risk to the fetus out of the process.  I fully support women having as much prenatal information as they can get.  I fully support a woman's right to decide whether or not to carry any pregnancy to term.  So this new test is good news.  But I wish Read More... Posted Oct 07 2008, 06:54 PM by Shannon LC Cate with | with 11 comment(s) Filed under: pregnancy, down syndrome, disability, down's syndrome, sarah palin, trig palin, Shannon LC Cate, prenatal screening