Lab-grown placentas 'will transform pregnancy research'

Cambridge team develops organoids or mini placentas to advance knowledge of stillbirth and pre-eclampsia

Scientists have grown "mini placentas" in a breakthrough that could transform research into the underlying causes of miscarriage, stillbirth and other pregnancy disorders.

The tiny organoids mimic the placenta in the early stages of the first trimester and will be used to understand how the tissue develops in healthy pregnancies, and what goes wrong when it fails.