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 ...

The placenta is the nutritive organ for the human fetus. It plays multiple roles in protecting the pregnancy from pathogens, producing the right endocrine milieu, supplying nutrients, and removing ...

The placenta plays a critical role in pregnancy, fetal development and health throughout life. Remy Sharp/Flickr, CC BY-SA An incredibly complex and important organ in its own right, the placenta is ...

The amount of nutrients transported to the fetus by the placenta adjusts according to both the fetal drive for growth, and the mother's physical ability to provide, new research suggests. New research ...

The placenta has long been thought to produce serotonin during pregnancy. But in a new study, Yale researchers shatter the deep-rooted hypothesis—and show that the placenta doesn't produce serotonin ...

I am not the first person who has considered composing poetry to the placenta. One writer begins: “Oh Lady Placenta! What a life you lived in magenta.” Another almost coos to the “constant companion, ...

An important cancer-related gene may play a critical role in the development of the placenta, the organ that controls nutrient and oxygen exchange between a mother and her fetus during pregnancy, and ...

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 ...