Development of the trophectoderm in the human blastocyst

The specification of the trophectoderm (TE) that gives rise to placental trophoblasts is a critical event in embryogenesis. Defects in this process have consequences for fertility, pregnancy outcome as well as lifelong health. Our understanding of the molecular mechanisms regulating this cell type in the human is lacking. Early pregnancy presents ethical and practical challenges limiting access to the developing conceptus and so the understanding gained from in vitro systems is of paramount importance. Recently derived human trophoblast stem cells (TSCs) and trophoblast organoids (TB-ORGs) now provide models to perform molecular analyses. These, coupled with advances in embryo culture single cell transcriptomics, and molecular tools such as CRISPR/Cas9 provide an unprecedented opportunity to gain progress and novel insights into controlled human placental development, which is the aim of my research.