Branchio-oculo-facial syndrome Branchio-oculo-facial syndrome Branchio-oculo-facial syndrome (BOFS) is a disease that arises from a mutation in the TFAP2A gene. It is a rare autosomal dominant disorder that starts to affect a child's development before birth. Symptoms of this condition include skin abnormalities on the neck, deformities of the ears and eyes, and other distinctive facial features such a cleft lip along with slow growth, mental retardation and premature graying of hair. "Branchio" refers to the branchial arches, also known as the pharyngeal arches, of the affected individual. The branchial arches are structures in the developing embryo that give rise to certain tissues
Birth defects of diethylstilbestrol also have an increased risk of uterine fibroids, and incompetent cervix in adulthood. Studies of DES daughters have not found a link between "in utero" exposure to DES and autoimmune diseases. In an animal model designed to study environmental estrogens, DES turned out to be an obesogen capable of causing adult weight gain in female mice which had been exposed to DES during neonatal development. The excess weight gain was not apparent at birth or in infancy, but occurred in adulthood. Initially, fewer studies documented risks of prenatal exposure to DES on males (referred to as "DES sons"). In the