The foetus is a combatant in the battle of the sexes, according to research underway at University College Cork, writes Dick Ahlstrom.
The womb is an unlikely but continual battleground in the war of the sexes. The skirmishing goes unnoticed, however, as the combat takes place at a hidden biochemical level.
The whole business of having a baby is always viewed as a "co-operative enterprise" between men and women, but this is not so, according to Dr Tom Moore in the Department of Biochemistry, University College Cork.
The man's genes will use biochemical weapons to steal what resources they can from the woman to enhance their chance for survival. The woman's genes fight back, trying to block this drain on resources, he says.
In turn, the foetus also becomes a combatant, explains Moore. The mother's biochemical armoury must come into play to hold the foetus's own biochemical weapons in check, keeping the foetus alive but preventing it from taking over the neighbourhood.
This complex interplay of proteins and genes is under intense scrutiny by a multidisciplinary team working at a number of Irish universities. Moore leads a team which includes UCC colleagues Prof Tommie McCarthy in biochemistry, Dr Peter Dockery in Anatomy and Prof John Higgins in obstetrics and gynaecology. It also includes Prof John Morrison in NUI Galway's Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and at University College Dublin Prof Maurice Boland in the Department of Animal Production.
"What we are talking about is a correct understanding about what is actually going on at a biochemical level, not what people imagine is going on," explains Moore.
Pregnancy presents a complex picture at the biochemical level, he says. "The male and female have different interests and different levels of shares in the enterprise.
"She has resources that she will invest in her offspring. Males will try to grab as many of her resources as possible in an arms race. It is a classical arms race issue," he says.
The whole thing is about perpetuating genes. The mother's genes will carry forward in the offspring, and she will invest heavily in carrying and nurturing the child. The male invests far less but his "transplanted" genes will try to ensure their own survival.
"The male brings up genes that will capture resources and she will counter with genes that reduce this." One approach is to apply biochemical controls on the growth of the foetus.
It looks as though she is actually working against the foetus but this is not so, says Moore, she is only seeking a balance. "All she is trying to do is shift the optimum of resource allocation towards her and away from the father."
Moore and the team are looking for the genes responsible for this balancing act. He believes that these same genes if they mutate may be the cause of common problems during pregnancy. "A mutation in one of these genes can lead to a huge physiological effect," he says.
The team is looking in particular at a number of gene families implicated in placental development including a group of hormones called the pregnancy-specific glycoproteins (PSGs), work funded jointly by the Health Research Board and the Wellcome Trust.
These are the most abundant foetal proteins found in the mother's bloodstream during pregnancy and may be used by the foetus to protect itself against the mother's immune system.