Intrauterine growth and development can impact upon the long-term health of an individual.
The fetus is dependent upon the placenta for its supply of nutrients and oxygen from the
mother. In turn, the functional capacity of the placenta to supply that demand is under the
control of the fetal and maternal genomes. Recent evidence suggests that imprinted genes,
a class of genes found in placental mammals whose expression depends on their parental
origin, have multiple roles in the placenta. The imprinted genes regulate the growth and …