Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and Genes: A new study published in the journal Biological Psychiatry finds that a certain gene variant may make some developing babies more vulnerable to fetal alcohol syndrome than others. This would explain why some children whose mothers drink during pregnancy suffer birth defects while others are unharmed. The researchers are also looking at what may be more subtle symptoms of prenatal alcohol exposure, including behavioral problems, such as impulse control, and learning disabilities, such as problems with memory and attention. The working theory is that babies with the short form of the serotonin transporter gene are more vulnerable to alcohol exposure.

A “No-Mommy” Gene? Out of Canada, a Queen’s University researcher has a theory about the current uptick in women who are forgoing motherhood in favor of career and other pursuits. He believes that these women are responding to an inherited drive to pursue fame, economic success, or other pleasures, passed down through the maternal line. Past generations were not given the opportunity to give weight to their genetically-inherited preference for the childless life. But- go figure - the theory holds that the number of women desiring to remain childless should level off and then decrease in future generations because the “I’d rather not be a mother” genetic switches will be bred out of the population.