Lasting Impact of an Ephemeral Organ: The Role of the Placenta in Fetal Programming

Recent advances in molecular and imaging technologies, “omics” fields, and data sciences are offering researchers an unprecedented look at the placenta, the master regulator of the fetal environment.© EPA/National Geographic Channel/Alamy Studies of infants conceived during the Dutch “Hunger Winter” provided some of the earliest clues that prenatal stress could affect health much later in life.© Nationaal Archief  © Evan Oto/Science Source In one study, the placental microbiome had a similar taxonomic profile as the oral microbiome, illustrated here by Bray-Curtis (B-C) dissimilarity. B-C dissimilarity reflects the extent to which two sites have dissimilar compositions, with 0 indicating total similarity and 1 indicating total dissimilarity—the thicker the connecting line, the greater the similarity of the taxonomic profile.Source: Aagard et al. (2014)38 Background image: © Mix and Match/Shutterstock Photo Lindsey Konkel is a New Jersey–based journalist who reports on science, health, and the environment. About This Article open Citation: Konkel L. 2016. Lasting impact of an ephemeral organ: the role of the placenta in fetal programming. Environ Health Perspect 124:A124–A129; http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.124-A124 Published: 1 July 2016 PDF Version (949 KB) During the winter of 1944–1945 a brutal cold snap and the World War II German occupation curtailed food shipments across the Nethe...
Source: EHP Research - Category: Environmental Health Authors: Tags: Featured Focus News July 2016 Source Type: research