Scientists are uncovering how the placenta, long viewed as a temporary pregnancy organ, acts as a powerful biological predictor of lifelong health, linking prenatal environments to future risks of ...

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 ...

The placenta never fails to amaze. The conventions that we take for granted as required for the normal formation and function of other organs are often flouted by placental trophoblasts, the ...

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 ...

Modern medicine has begun to recognize that the placenta can have significant medical and scientific value even after childbirth.

The placenta is mysterious but mighty. The only transient organ in the body (meaning it grows, then leaves), belonging to both the mother and the fetus, the placenta is a major part of our little ...

Gestational diabetes can cause a multitude of complications in the offspring, but to date, the reasons are incompletely understood. A new study, exploring a foundational step in the process of ...

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 ...