Artificial Gestation

The idea of an “artificial womb” has been explored in literature, science fiction, and film for almost a century. Full ‘ectogenesis’ – growing a human from an embryo entirely within an artificial environment – might have profound implications for society, but is far from reality. However, recently published work with an animal model has described a technique for supporting extremely premature newborn lambs (equivalent to 23 weeks of human gestation) in a liquid environment with an artificial placenta for a period of up to four weeks. The apparent success of this model has led to suggestions that it could be trialled in humans in the near future. If it were successful, artificial gestation might represent a paradigm shift in neonatal care. It could radically improve the prospects for infants born around the current borderline of viability. It may also shift the current threshold of viability and make it possible to save infants who could not be saved with current technology. However, artificial gestation will raise considerable ethical challenges – both during the first stages of its evaluation in humans, and,if successful in its application to neonatal care

Combined exposure to parasite and pesticide causes increased mortality in the water flea Daphnia

ISSN:1386-2588ISSN:1573-512

The Family Campylobacteraceae

The Campylobacteraceae is the largest and most diverse family in the phylogenetically distinct Epsilonproteobacteria, presently comprising the genera Campylobacter (30 taxa), Arcobacter (17 taxa), and Sulfurospirillum (7 taxa). Individual species may be able to grow in microaerobic, anaerobic, and/or aerobic conditions, in temperatures from 25°C to 42°C; free-living, commensal, or pathogenic; motile or aflagellate; and able to colonize the oral cavity, intestine, stomach, or reproductive tracts of humans, large production animals (such as sheep, cattle, and deer), birds, and reptiles. Some species are known to be among the most frequent causes of human gastroenteritis, others are significant threats to bovine and ovine fertility, and many pose an as-yet unknown, or no, role in human or animal diseases. The taxonomy of the Campylobacteraceae has evolved extensively since its beginnings in 1963. This chapter outlines key events in the family's taxonomic history; reviews general phenotypic traits of each genus, including their isolation; outlines the clinical (including pathogenicity studies and antimicrobial resistance traits) and/or ecological significance of constituent species; and describes current approaches and challenges for species identification and epidemiological subtyping