Mini-placentas grown in the lab

A tiny version of a human placenta will help investigate mysteries of pregnancy.
04 December 2018

placenta organoid pregnancy test

mini-placenta grown in a dish tests positive on a pregnancy test

Share

Many pregnancies fail due to problems with the placenta, but knowledge of how this important organ develops and how it functions is limited. Now a team of scientist from the University of Cambridge have announced a transformative development: they are able to grow mini-placentas in the lab. Hannah Laeverenz Schlogelhofer spoke with the lead author of this study, Dr Margherita Turco, to find out about the role of the placenta in pregnancy and how their mini-placentas will be able to advance this area of research.

Comments

Add a comment