Approved Research

Novel genetic, genomic and functional handles for pregnancy loss

Lay summary

Loss of a pregnancy is a devastating event for couples, and there remains no clear explanation to its cause for nearly half of those who experience miscarriage multiple times. It is likely that changes in the parent's genomes may play a role in pregnancy loss, but how important genetic variation is and how it contributes to the process remain unknown. The UK Biobank is an excellent resource to specifically identify sources of genetic variation that are common across many different cases of pregnancy loss. We will identify how genes associated with these common genetic variants contribute to the normal process of pregnancy, and how their disruption may be involved in pregnancy loss. This will be achieved by using the identified genes to guide our genomic analyses of couples who have experience multiple miscarriages but are without medical explanation as to their cause. This project will last 5 years. Our research aims to increase the information available to the medical community to improve diagnostic and treatment strategies of recurrent pregnancy loss.