About the project
This project will use computational modelling in combination with 3D multiscale multimodal imaging to improve our understanding of placental evolution, in close collaboration between Engineering and Medicine.
While the mammalian placenta only evolved once, it is remarkable just how many different types of placentas there are in different animals. The variety of placental structures is much more pronounced than for any other organ. This is particularly striking, given that the placenta essentially fulfils the same function of providing oxygen and nutrients to support the growth and development of the fetus in the womb until their time of birth. This provides a fascinating opportunity to study how different structural adaptations can maintain a core function while also responding to species specific requirements.
Maternal and fetal blood circulations do not mix, therefore current theories of placental evolution centre on the tissue layers comprising the placental barrier and try to infer how their organisation relates to the concept of placental efficiency. However, this “placental efficiency” is not well defined.
This PhD project will develop computational models of nutrient transfer and blood flow, using 3D imaging data of actual placental structures at the micro and macro scale from volume electron microscopy and X-Ray histology. This will allow us to establish for the first time a quantitative understanding of how the placental transfer capacity for different species (human, sheep, mouse, zebra, giraffe) links with different evolutionary strategies and their ability to deal with a changing environment.
