Last week, the NIH announced its support for an initiative to study how new technologies can shed light on the placenta's function and health during pregnancy. Considering how crucial the placenta is to not only the health of a woman and her fetus during pregnancy, but also to the lifelong health of both, it's surprising to hear the NIH call it "the least understood human organ."
Currently, doctors and scientists can only gather information about the placenta by using ultrasounds and blood tests, and by examining it after delivery. What if new sensors could track how well blood, oxygen, and nutrients are flowing to the fetus, or if new imaging technologies could assess how well the placenta is attaching to the uterine wall? What if biotechnology could assess the effects of environmental factors on the placenta, such as air pollution, maternal diet, and medications?
Better understanding and monitoring of this temporary organ promises to improve maternal and child health. Placental issues can contribute to negative pregnancy outcomes such as preeclampsia, gestational diabetes, preterm birth, and stillbirth, and they've also been linked to a higher risk of heart disease later in life, for both mother and child.
This is the third and largest funding announcement for the NIH's Human Placenta Project, led by the NIH’s Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and cosponsored by the NIH’s National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering.
Calling the placenta a "fascinating organ" and the "lifeline that gives us our start in the world" Alan E. Guttmacher, MD, director of the NICHHD, also said in an NIH press release:
We hope this funding opportunity will attract a broad range of researchers and clinicians to help — placental biologists, obstetricians, and experts in imaging, bioengineering, and other arenas... For researchers who want to apply their skills in an area of medicine that isn’t being looked at as much as both scientific opportunity and human health warrant, this is a wonderful chance.
Previously: Placenta, the video game, The placenta sacrifices itself to keep baby healthy in case of starvation and Program focuses on the treatment of placental disorders
Related: Too deeply attached and A most mysterious organ
Photo by thinkpanama
