The Tree(s) of Life: The Human Placenta and My Journey to Learn More about It

I have always been fascinated by the mechanisms by which viruses, and other microorganisms, bypass and/or cross cellular barriers to enter their human hosts.As a trainee and young investigator, my research primarily focused on how enteroviruses cross the barriers presented by the epithelium and endothelium.Yet, despite all my years focused on cellular barriers, there was a barrier I had always overlooked, until faced with the stark reality of its importance-the placenta, which forms the barrier between mother and her developing baby during pregnancy.Early in my pregnancy, as I sat prepping large volumes of highly infectious enteroviruses, a question suddenly occurred to me: "What is protecting my baby from these viruses?"A quick Image 1.