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Supreme Court Rejects Religious Objections to Sale of Contraceptives

Conservatives were disappointed and liberals were encouraged by the Supreme Court decision Tuesday to reject an appeal in a case involving the sale of emergency contraceptives and religious liberty. In effect, the high court let stand a July 2015 lower court ruling that a Washington State statute was OK to protect women’s access to contraceptives.

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Male Mitochondrial DNA Found to Self-Destruct After Arrival in Embryo

A team of researchers with members from Taiwan, the U.S., China and Japan has found that mitochondrial DNA from sperm that makes its way into an embryo begins to self-destruct before autophagosomes in the cytoplasm can reach it. In their paper published in the journal Science, the researchers describe their study involving the close monitoring of male mitochondrial DNA activity immediately after an embryo has been fertilized and as it is subsequently destroyed—they also offer some theories regarding why this occurs.

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Supreme Court Strikes Down Abortion Restrictions in Texas

The Supreme Court has overturned a Texas law requiring clinics that provide abortions to have surgical facilities and doctors to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital. The law was predicted to close many clinics and further reduce availability of abortion in Texas; the court has ruled the law violated the Constitution.

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The Strange Story of a Fertility Drug Made With the Pope’s Blessing and Gallons of Nun Urine

Piero Donini, a scientist working in the late 1940s for the Italian pharmaceutical company that would later be known as Serono, was the first to extract and purify FSH and LH, the hormones that stimulate ovulation. The hormones are found in women’s urine, which is why pregnancy tests can be conducted on urine samples. After experimenting with urine from pregnant women, Donini discovered the highest levels of the hormone actually were in post-menopausal women. After menopause, when ovaries stop producing eggs, FHS and LS shoot up as the body tries to stimulate their production.