During Pregnancy, the Placenta Hacks the Immune System to Protect the Fetus

The original version of this story appeared in Quanta Magazine.

When you were a child, it seemed like an ingenious plan: Splash hot water on your face and stagger into the kitchen, letting out a moan that could make angels cry. One touch of your flushed forehead would convince your parents to diagnose a fever and keep you home from school.

No matter how elaborately planned and performed, these theatrics probably weren’t as persuasive as you had hoped. But new research, published in Cell Host & Microbe, suggests that long before birth, a similar tactic helps developing humans and other mammals put on a more convincing show.

The study showed how the

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