http://www.physorg.com/ en-us Physorg.com internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. (PhysOrg.com) -- For thousands of years, humans have bred pigs for desirable traits, such as more muscle and less fat in the meat. Domestication makes animals ideal models for studying how genes control physical traits because when humans selectively breed animals for the best physical features, they are also selecting for the genes controlling those traits. http://www.physorg.com/news180087491.html Biology Tue, 15 Dec 2009 08:40:02 EST news180087491 (PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at North Carolina State University have found that intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR), which results in low birth weight and long-term deleterious health effects in cloned swine, is linked to a type of gene - known as an imprinted gene - found only in placental mammals. Imprinted genes play an important role in the normal fetal development of all mammals, and this study could have future implications for the study of IUGR in humans. http://www.physorg.com/news167320132.html Biology Mon, 20 Jul 2009 15:00:06 EST news167320132 In a paper available at the online site of the journal Biology of Reproduction, a team of UCLA researchers reports for the first time that vitamin D induces immune responses in placental tissues by stimulating production of the antimicrobial protein cathelicidin. http://www.physorg.com/news147367161.html Medicine & Health Mon, 01 Dec 2008 15:19:21 EST news147367161 Brain development in infants who are born very prematurely is still incomplete. Factors that cause premature birth may have an impact on the development of the premature infant's brain both during pregnancy and later on after birth. A project conducted as part of the Academy of Finland Research Programme on Neuroscience (NEURO) is concerned to study brain growth and development invery premature or low-weight infants. http://www.physorg.com/news139053706.html Medicine & Health Wed, 27 Aug 2008 11:01:46 EST news139053706