Animal study reveals how a fever early in pregnancy can cause birth defects

In chicken embryos, a rise in incubation temperature alone can disrupt normal development

incubating chick

BASIC BEAK  The red- and blue-stained facial features of this chick, which was incubated under standard laboratory temperatures, reveal an upper beak that is developing properly.

M. Hutson et al/Science Signaling 2017

Certain birth defects of the face and heart can occur when babies’ mothers have a fever during the first trimester of pregnancy, a crucial time in an embryo’s development.