‘Mini placenta’ organoids grown

Scientists in Britain have succeeded in creating mini human-placenta organoids which they say will transform scientific understanding of reproductive disorders such as pre-eclampsia and miscarriage.

The organoids — miniature functional cellular models of the human placenta’s earliest stages — will also allow researchers to explore what makes a pregnancy healthy, and how certain diseases can pass from a mother to a developing baby.

The human placenta supplies all the oxygen and nutrients essential for growth of a foetus. If it fails to develop properly, pregnancy can fail and end in stillbirth or miscarriage, or babies can be born with developmental problems.

Ashley Moffett, a professor at Cambridge University’s pathology, physiology, development and neuroscience department who co-led the work, explained that while the placenta is absolutely essential for supporting a baby as it grows inside the mother, researchers know relatively little about it because of a lack of good experimental models.

“It’s the first organ that develops, yet it’s also the least-understood,” she said.

The field of organoid science has blossomed in recent years, with research teams growing everything from minibrains to mini-livers to mini-lungs and using them to gain greater understanding of human biology and disease.