Correcting abnormal signals in the womb may help prevent repeated miscarriages. After fertilisation, an embryo must embed itself within the inner layer of the uterus - the endometrium. The endometrium is only receptive to an embryo for four days in each menstrual cycle, ensuring that implantation occurs at the right time. By analysing human endometrial cells implanted in mice, Jan Brosens at the University of Warwick, UK, and his colleagues discovered that the four-day window is regulated by a molecule called interleukin-33. IL-33 controls signals to genes that make the endometrium sticky enough for implantation.
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