In response to a recent report (Fam Plann Perspect 11: 47, 1979) that two of 12 rhesus monkeys given 50 times the human dose of depot medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA), by body weight, for ten years had developed endometrial carcinoma (CA), a retrospective survey of all hospital admissions for proven endometrial CA in two Thai provinces where DMPA contraceptive injections have been widely used since 1965 was made. From 1974 through 1978, 16 women were hospitalized with confirmed diagnoses of endometrial CA. None of the nine women successfully followed up had previously used oral or injectable contraceptives, nor has the recorded incidence of endometrial CA increased in these provinces. Base on the available evidence, the authors conclude that (a) the data on monkeys given very large doses of DMPA for ten years do not apply to women given normal doses of DMPA for prolonged periods and (b) widespread and long-term use of DMPA can and should be continued.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Perspectives on fertility control.

The biologic, administrative and individual perspectives on fertility control are presented and discussed. The need to unite perspectives is demonstrated and the importance of adjusting human fertility to new physiologies and social demands is stressed.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Quick screening of plasmid deletion clones carrying inserts of desired sizes for DNA sequencing.

Plasmids pWQX001 and pWQX005, constructed from pGEM-4 with an insert of 6.5 kb, were unidirectionally digested with exonuclease III and exonuclease VII. The DNA digests were ligated and used to transform competent cells of Escherichia coli DH5-alpha. The size of the deletion plasmid carried by each transformant was estimated through agarose gel electrophoresis of crude lysates without any purification of the plasmid DNA. Colonies carrying plasmid DNAs with different deletions of the insert were grown and their DNAs were purified through a miniprocedure. The size of each purified plasmid DNA was determined accurately after linearization of the plasmid with an appropriate restriction endonuclease. The remainder of the DNA preparation was sufficiently pure to be sequenced using Sanger's dideoxynucleotide chain termination method. An easy, quick procedure is described for the preliminary selection of templates for DNA sequencing after construction of deletion clones of recombinant plasmid DNA using exonuclease III and exonuclease VII. This procedure permits a rapid screening of large numbers of colonies and selection of those carrying plasmid DNAs with inserts of the desired sizes for sequencing. This procedure does not require purification of the deletion plasmid DNA.

Base Sequence↗