In 10 years, the proportion of American women having surgical deliveries jumped by 62 percent, from 800,000 women in 1995 to 1.3 million in 2005, according to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. That means nearly one in three pregnancies now ends with a C-section. Jerome Yankowitz, MD, director of maternal-fetal medicine at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, said in an ABCNews.com report that the increase can be explained partially by medical advancements that decrease the risk of a surgical delivery. A number of women choose to have C-sections out of convenience or to avoid some of the side effects of a vaginal delivery. "You put it all together and it gives doctors more permission to do C-sections," said Yankowitz, who indicated he does not necessarily view the trend as a positive development. "Our threshold (for performing C-sections) today would be much, much lower than any past decade."

In a story titled, "The Seeing Eye Gene," Forbes.com cites the groundbreaking research into the dry form of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) being conducted by Gregory Hageman, PhD, a professor of ophthalmology with University of Iowa Health Care. Over the past four years, the article noted, Hageman has uncovered how AMD is linked to three variations of the complement factor H gene, which is a crucial player in regulating the immune system. One variation of the gene produces proteins that seem to protect the eye. Those with it enjoy perfect sight well into their 90s. Another variation causes AMD. Since 2005 a firm called Optherion has been developing Hageman's ideas into a drug to reverse AMD's effects. Animal tests are just getting under way; Optherion hopes to begin human trials next year.

A story about the medical profession's push to promote single-child in vitro fertilization notes that UI Hospitals and Clinics has made avoiding twins a crusade. For the last three years, UI's clinic has given candidates for single-embryo transfer no alternative (except to drive many miles to the state's only other IVF clinic), according to a story in the Chicago Tribune . Iowa starts "educating" patients the day they walk in. They get a one-page comparison of the risks of twins. They discuss financial and psychological issues. They're told they will use a single, five-day-old embryo only if they're lucky enough to qualify. As Iowa's lab director, Amy Sparks , PhD, explained: "We present it as, 'Congratulations! Your chances of pregnancy are so good that you only need one embryo.'"