The number of women undergoing tubal ligations — a surgical procedure that permanently prevents pregnancy — increased 51% across four academic medical centers in four states in the year after the Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, according to a new study from researchers at Penn State College of Medicine, Albany Medical Center, University of South Florida and University of Tennessee Medical Center. Almost half of those seeking the procedure reported that their decision was somewhat or very related to the current political climate, even in states considered to be protective of abortion access.

Plant biologists have developed a method for growing transgenic and gene-edited plants that cuts the slow and expensive process down from months to weeks. Publishing November 6 in the Cell Press journal Molecular Plant, the method takes advantage of plants’ natural ability to regenerate after being wounded or pruned. By injecting bacteria carrying genetic instructions for wound healing and regeneration into a pruned plant’s wound site, the researchers triggered the plant to grow new shoots, some of which were transgenic and gene edited. The method shows potential even in species that are usually difficult or impossible to regenerate, such as soybeans. 

A rigorous systematic review of the present state of knowledge on the use of acetaminophen during pregnancy and the risk of specific neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs), such as autism and ADHD, offers reassurance that acetaminophen does not increase the risk of NDDs. The study in the Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry (JAACAP), published by Elsevier, points to methodological inadequacies in previous reviews and studies. It offers reassurance for pregnant women, public health agencies, and healthcare providers in alignment with recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), and The Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Canada (SOGC).

Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan announce the launch of a first-of-its-kind initiative combining frontier artificial intelligence and frontier biology to dramatically accelerate scientific progress toward understanding and addressing human disease.