In vitro fertilization has caused a few problems, but it has brought new hope to couples who were formerly unable to conceive. One controversial side effect is that embryos with genetic diseases can be culled. This brings up a brand new moral choice for our time.
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Babies that are born in the winter are bigger and do better. They may be smarter as well, since at the age of 7, children born in the winter months have larger heads. The season when you’re born can also determine whether or not you turn out to be an optimist or a pessimist.
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With the current epidemic of obesity and Type II diabetes among both children and adults, researchers are trying to determine if what our mothers ate influences our future health. Their conclusion: it does?a lot.
Dr. Donald Novak says, “There are many people around the world who don’t have enough protein in their diets, and malnutrition is a major cause of babies being born small around the world. There is a lot of evidence that when infants are born small, compared to their counterparts, they have a higher risk of these specific disorders. We are trying to sort out why that might be.” But protein deprivation during pregnancy doesn’t always produce small offspring. It’s linked to the development of a larger body type in rats, a tendency that persists for two generations.read more
Women are more likely to give birth to a boy if they’re inan environment that will allow them to live to an old age,because healthy women have more testosterone, which promotesthe survival of the male fetus. But women who only thinkthey’ll live a long time also have more boys.
This correlates with an earlier story showing that when sickpeople are prayed for?even if they don?t know it?they?ll getwell faster, but only if theybelieve in thepower of prayer.
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