WIKIMEDIA, MAGGIE BARTLETT/NHGRIThe oocytes of obese mouse mothers exhibit mitochondrial defects that can be passed on to offspring, according to a study published in Development this week (February 10). Treatment with an endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress inhibitor reversed most of the detrimental effects, however, pointing to a potential treatment option if the problem exists in humans.
“It’s quite remarkable that simply mediating the ER stress response has such a profound effect on oocyte physiology and can rescue the development defects in the offspring,” said Stephanie Pangas, a reproductive biologist at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, who was not involved in the study.
FANNY MAUREThe parasitoid wasp (Dinocampus coccinellae) enlists the body-guarding assistance of its lady beetle victim with the help of a virus its larvae transmit to the bitten insect, according to a study published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B this week (February 10).
According to lead researcher Nolwenn Dheilly of Stony Brook University in New York, her team’s study is the first to find that a virus, D. coccinellae paralysis virus (DcPV), “is involved in the behavioral manipulation by another parasite.”
“[DcPV] plays an obvious role in host behavior manipulation, which is spectacular. But ...
