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Common industrial chemical now linked to male infertility

A chemical widely used in industry and present in ground water supplies, has now been found in the semen fluid of infertile men, reports a Queen’s University research scientist. Dr. Poh-Gek Forkert’s study of male mechanics who use trichloroethylene (TCE) in the workplace shows the presence of TCE in their seminal fluid. The team’s findings are reported in the March issue of the international journal, Drug Metabolism and Disposition.

Alcohol Researchers Identify a Genetic Basis of Pain Response

A common genetic variant influences individual responses and adaptation to pain and other stressful stimuli and may underlie vulnerability to many psychiatric and other complex diseases, reports David Goldman, M.D., Chief, Laboratory of Neurogenetics, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, and colleagues at NIAAA and the University of Michigan. COMT val158met Genotype Affects m-Opioid Neurotransmitter Responses to a Pain Stressor appears in the February 21 issue of Science.