For most people, the placenta is simply viewed as a temporary organ that supports a baby during pregnancy and is discarded after delivery. However, modern medicine has begun to recognize that the ...

If the development of blood vessels in the placenta is impaired, fetal growth retardation may result. Scientists from the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and the Mannheim Medical Faculty of ...

During human pregnancy, the maternal immune system develops and changes, providing protection for the growing placenta and fetus. These protective changes provide mechanisms allowing two genetically ...

The placenta, critical for healthy embryo development, is a multi- purpose organ with a precise lifespan—the length of a pregnancy. New research from the Stowers Institute for Medical Research ...

Considering how different they look from the outside, it might be surprising that all vertebrates – animals with a backbone – share the same, conserved set of organs. Chickens, fish, human beings – ...

Maternal obesity alters the structure of the placenta (a vital organ that nourishes the baby during pregnancy) more than gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM; a condition characterized by poor glucose ...

The processes involved in placental development are highly regulated to ensure normal growth of the developing fetal tissues and the maintenance of a healthy pregnancy. A unique function of the ...