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Research from the University of Kent has demonstrated a decline in son preference by women of childbearing age in Bangladesh. However, the study also shows that fertility decisions are still influenced according to son preference.
The paper, Is son preference disappearing from Bangladesh? , surveyed a nationally representative sample of Bangladeshi women of childbearing age, born between 1975 and 1994, to assess how son preference is evolving.
The term son preference refers to any situation where parents value sons over daughters and make resulting choices accordingly, which can have a strong economic and demographic impact.
The study finds that among women of childbearing age in Bangladesh, son preference is giving way to a desire for gender balance, a consequence of increased female education and employment. However, in contrast to these stated fertility preferences, actual fertility decisions are still shaped by son preference.
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Researchers from the University of Kent have developed a computer algorithm that can identify differences in cancer cell lines based on microscopic images, a unique development towards ending misidentification of cells in laboratories.
Cancer cell lines are cells isolated and grown as cell cultures in laboratories for study and developing anti-cancer drugs. However, many cell lines are misidentified after being swapped or contaminated with others, meaning many researchers may work with incorrect cells.
This has been a persistent problem since work with cancer cell lines began. Short tandem repeat (STR) analysis is commonly used to identify cancer cell lines, but is expensive and time-consuming. Moreover, STR cannot discriminate between cells from the same person or animal.