Life's Vital Link: The astonishing role of the placenta

Description:

How is it possible that a partly foreign body can invade your tissues, avoiding attack by your immune system, establish access to your bloodstream, and even influence your brain? That parasite is the placenta, on of the most ingenious adaptations, and the result of 300 million years of evolution from our egg-laying reptile ancestors. Its cunning ways of growing - cancer-like, yet controlled - and camouflaging itself against the defence systems of its host are only just being worked out. This book, based on cutting edge research, tells the awe-inspiring story of the organ which allows us to grow towards individuality, but which also ensures that we are never completeley separate.