WASHINGTON - Scientists carefully probe a placenta donated after birth, bluish umbilical cord still attached. This is the body's most mysterious organ, and inside lie clues about how it gives life - ...

A gene that turns on very early in embryonic development could be key to the formation of the placenta, which provides the developing fetus with what it needs to thrive during gestation. Subscribe to ...

Understanding the molecular control of placenta formation, the organ which enables fetal growth, is critical in diagnosing and treating related pregnancy complications. A group of scientists at the ...

The discovery of a gene essential to early embryonic development sheds light on the preliminary stages of human placenta formation. A team led by scientists from the University of California San Diego ...

Researchers lead a study showing the cellular detail of how the placenta changes during pregnancy. Early in pregnancy, something strange happens in the uterus: Cells from the fetal side of the ...

Without the protein galectin-3 (left), placental cells remain separate, each with their own nucleus (blue) surrounded by a distinct cell boundary (pink). With galectin-3 (right), cells fuse together ...

Elevated levels of type I interferon (IFN) during pregnancy are associated with intrauterine growth retardation, preterm birth, and fetal demise through mechanisms that are not well understood. A ...

During the first weeks of pregnancy, the developing placenta in a mother's womb undergoes a dramatic change. Individual cells merge, forming a continuous barrier that will spend the next nine months ...