female mice

Pregnant women should think twice about high-fat foods. Scientists found that female mice fed high-fat diets were more likely to have oversized offspring (a risk factor for overweight and obesity) because fat causes the placenta to go into "overdrive" by providing too many nutrients to the fetus.

This also suggests the reverse may be true -- high fat diets may help prevent undersized babies.

Researchers have pinpointed a mechanism in the brains of mice that could explain why some human mothers become depressed following childbirth.

The discovery could lead to improved treatment for postpartum depression. After giving birth, female mice bred to be deficient in a suspect protein showed depression-like behaviors and neglected their newborn pups.

Giving a drug that restored the protein's function improved maternal behavior and reduced pup mortality.

Female mice can steer clear of inbred males on the basis of their scent alone. Biologists found that female mice chose to associate with males producing a greater diversity of major urinary proteins.

Small molecules known as miRNAs, which are generated naturally by the body, regulate the conversion of genetic information into proteins.

New data have now indicated that miRNAs can control the fertility of female mice by regulating the development and function of the corpus luteum, the structure that forms at the site of release of the fertilized egg and that is required to maintain pregnancy at the early stages.

Consuming EGCG, an antioxidant in green tea, significantly inhibits breast tumor growth in female mice. These results bring us one step closer to better understanding the disease and potentially new and naturally occurring therapies.

Scientists have long known that emotions and other personality traits and disorders run together in families. But finding which genes are most important in controlling emotions has proven difficult.

Researchers have noted that male mice make high-frequency vocalizations during sexual interactions with female mice.

These high-frequency calls are associated with approach behaviors, and with genes that control positive emotions.

In the courtship phase, before mounting, males usually made simple whistles or modulated calls.