About this Research Topic
Pregnancy complications such as pre-eclampsia, recurrent miscarriages, preterm birth and maternal hyperglycemia, affect millions of women each year. Due to the multi-tissue and often multi-organism nature of these complications, research into the causes of each complication is challenging. The access to efficient and relatively inexpensive sequencing technologies over the past two decades has revolutionized the ability of researchers to understand disease mechanisms broadly. Research currently underway into the genetic and gene regulatory causes of pregnancy complications has the potential to revolutionize our understanding of healthy and complicated pregnancies. Integrating new technologies into studies of pregnancy and pregnancy complications can lead to greater understanding of the biology of each indication and potential therapeutic targets.
The goal of this research topic is to aggregate and highlight studies utilizing new technologies in genetics and genomics to gain insight into the biology of pregnancy complications. Pregnancy is a challenge for researchers to understand as it involves at least two distinct organisms, each with their own genome. Novel sequencing technologies, like single cell RNA sequencing, regulatory genomic assays, and accessibility of genotyping technologies has lead to groundbreaking discoveries about the makeup of the maternal-fetal interface, large genome wide association studies, and gene regulatory changes of maternal and fetal cell types throughout pregnancy. Further advances integrating these novel technologies could direct research toward promising therapeutic targets of the underlying mechanism leading to pregnancy complications.
Contributions to this research topic should include original research, perspective and review articles that leverage genetic and genomic technologies leading to a greater understanding of pregnancy complications. Although pregnancy involves the interaction of maternal and fetal signals, this topic is primarily focused on the implications for maternal health and potential maternal causes for pregnancy complications, rather than fetal health and fetal causes of complications. Research involving novel genetic and genomic technologies such as CRISPR-Cas 9, single cell RNA-seq, ATAC-seq and ChIP-seq are particularly relevant to this research topic.
The goal of this research topic is to aggregate and highlight studies utilizing new technologies in genetics and genomics to gain insight into the biology of pregnancy complications. Pregnancy is a challenge for researchers to understand as it involves at least two distinct organisms, each with their own genome. Novel sequencing technologies, like single cell RNA sequencing, regulatory genomic assays, and accessibility of genotyping technologies has lead to groundbreaking discoveries about the makeup of the maternal-fetal interface, large genome wide association studies, and gene regulatory changes of maternal and fetal cell types throughout pregnancy. Further advances integrating these novel technologies could direct research toward promising therapeutic targets of the underlying mechanism leading to pregnancy complications.
Contributions to this research topic should include original research, perspective and review articles that leverage genetic and genomic technologies leading to a greater understanding of pregnancy complications. Although pregnancy involves the interaction of maternal and fetal signals, this topic is primarily focused on the implications for maternal health and potential maternal causes for pregnancy complications, rather than fetal health and fetal causes of complications. Research involving novel genetic and genomic technologies such as CRISPR-Cas 9, single cell RNA-seq, ATAC-seq and ChIP-seq are particularly relevant to this research topic.
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
