In both mouse and humans, proper development of both the embryo and its supporting placenta is coordinated through gene expression programmes. However, the individual functions of many of these genes and consequences of their loss remains unknown. In a new study, Taylor Guertin, Kimberley D. Tremblay and colleagues use mouse models to systematically analyse the effects of 22 individual gene knockouts during mid-gestation, when the placenta becomes mature enough to mediate maternal/foetal exchange. The results of this effort have illuminated different general principles of placental and embryo development, and have also been released as a browsable resource online: https://websites.umass.edu/kdtkomp/. To learn more about this work and the people behind it, we talked to first author Taylor Guertin and corresponding author Kimberley (Kim) Tremblay, Professor of Veterinary and Animal Sciences at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, USA.
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